Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn yesterday announced that the government has indicated its willingness to share the autopsy reports for West Coast Berbice (WCB) teenagers Joel and Isaiah Henry and Haresh Singh with Director of the Argentine Team of Forensic Anthropology (EAAF) Dr. Luis Fondebrider.
The autopsy reports were among a list of documents which Dr.Fondebrider had requested from authorities in order to conclude whether his team is capable of assisting with the investigations.
Benn said that Dr. Fondebrider has an option to either view the autopsies, which were video recorded in the interest of transparency, virtually or face-to-face in the presence of the Government Pathologist.
“There was a discussion where he (Dr. Fondebrider) was advised that he can see the autopsy which was indeed attended by Mr Nigel Hughes and that he could have an opportunity either virtually or face to face with the Government forensic pathologist,” Benn told reporters yesterday on the sidelines of an event which was held at Lusignan.
However, contacted yesterday, Co-Chair of Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) Mike McCormack said that the autopsy reports were the first documents which were offered to Dr. Fondebrider during the meeting where the list of documents were requested.
Aside from this, McCormack said there has been no other further exchange on the list of requested documents.
He added that GHRA will be following up with authorities after the holiday period. “The GHRA’s position at the moment is to give both sides a chance to effect the changes,” McCormack said.
Isaiah, 16, a student at the Woodley Park Secondary School, and Joel, 18, who worked at the Blairmont Estate, went missing on Saturday, September 5, after they left home for the Cotton Tree backlands to pick coconuts. Their mutilated bodies were found the next day during a search, sparking days of unrest in West Berbice. Days after, another teenager, Singh, was also murdered in what is believed to be a reprisal killing.
Early this month, Dr. Fondebrider visited Guyana to assess whether the team is capable of supporting local police in the probes.
During his five-day visit, Dr. Fondebrider met with the families of the teenagers, visited the crime scene and the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) mortuary and met with Benn and senior members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), including Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum.
Before his departure, Dr. Fondebrider told reporters that he requested a list of 20 documents from the police in order to offer advice on solving the murders.
Dr. Fondebrider had said that he would only be in a position to provide recommendations and advice on the probes once the documents are provided to him. “I need documents. I need reports from the crime scene, from the autopsy, the complete analysis. I don’t have it……I told them very clearly what I need. I need documents from the work of the crime scene, I need to see pictures, maps, the scriptures, to which labs were the samples taken from the bodies from the scene sent, I need to see the autopsy reports, how long it took the autopsy, the condition of the mortuary. Only with that information, after re-analysing, I can offer opinion and advice,” he had explained.
In early October, the GPF, GHRA and the law firm Hughes, Fields & Stoby had announced that the EAAF team had offered to aid local authorities with the investigations.
In a joint statement, they had said that the team, which has worked on high profile cases in many parts of the world, offered to send a team to Guyana, including a forensic pathologist, a forensic anthropologist, a forensic radiologist and a criminalist.
In September, representatives of Caribbean Community’s Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (CARICOM IMPACS) and the Regional Security System (RSS) visited to assist local police with the investigations.
President Irfaan Ali had taken a decision to have the team here after dozens of ranks combed the backlands of No. 2 and No. 3 villages, WCB and found nothing of “evidential” value for the investigation into the murders.
Following their departure, a report was prepared. While the findings were not made public, Ali had also told the media that the RSS team has recommended additional work be done.
However, about two weeks ago, Ali had said that the police would advise him on whether additional help is needed in the investigations into the murders.
“…The police would advise me on what additional help is needed and I have told the police that whatever additional help they need and we can facilitate, we will,” Ali had told reporters at State House. He had been asked whether the government will be accepting the offer of assistance from the EAAF.
Ali said that the government has already facilitated a team from the CARICOM IMPACS and the RSS. He added that he is aware that in “some” component of the investigations, the police have also reached out to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). This, he said, is a “continued” collaboration.
However, questioned yesterday as to what aid the FBI is providing the police in the investigations, Benn refused to divulge any details. “I will say nothing to that at the moment…We will await the outcome of the investigation,” he said.
The president had previously promised that no stone would be left unturned in finding those responsible for the killing.
