Teens allegedly robbed, tortured by soldiers

Aug 26, 2008 News

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A young Amerindian from the North West District is seeking medical attention in the city following a severe beating last Saturday, reportedly at the hands of a group of soldiers posing as policemen, in what was described as a robbery.
Kurt Wong, 16, and his friend, Anthony, are alleging that they were tortured by the soldiers, who had invaded the merchant boat they were sleeping on, keeping watch.
The soldiers, including a lieutenant, were positively identified, and have reportedly begged the youths to settle the matter, promising to return the items that were reportedly stolen.
Police at the Mabaruma Police Station, where the matter was reported, confirmed that they are investigating the matter but declined to give any further details.
Speaking to this newspaper yesterday, Wong, who is seeking an x-ray to determine the extent of his injuries, related that he and his friend were sleeping on the vessel, which was moored at the KMC Wharf, when they were rudely awakened by the intruders, who pointed guns at their heads.
According to him, this was at about 03:00 hours on Saturday.
Wong claimed that the men, who were in civilian clothing, carried machine guns and identified themselves as policemen.
They held the two youths at gunpoint, and one of them proceeded to rummage through the youths’ pockets.
Wong said that the men took his Motorola Razr cellular phone and a gold chain valued at more than $100,000, while his friend was relieved of his gold chain and ring.
Despite this, the men were not finished with them.
“They snatched the chain from my neck and started to beat me. They tell me they will kill me and say, ‘Find de money! We want de money!’” the teenager recalled.
He said that one of the men pointed his gun at him and demanded to know where the boss was.
“My friend told them, ‘If y’all is police, I could take y’all to the boss man’. He and two others left and went to the boss man house.”
According to Wong, because of the hour, the boss refused to open up, and the men returned to the boat with his colleague.
He said that the men kept slapping his ears with the palms of their hands, drawing blood.
“I say, ‘Why y’all beating me?’ Dey point dey gun to my chest, and at that time I really thought that they would kill me,” he related.
The men then threw him into the river and, suffering from severe pains about his body, Wong said that he almost drowned.
One of the men, sensing that Wong was in danger, jumped into the water and pushed him to shore.
But the ordeal was still not over.
Wong said that the men took them from the boat and ordered them to fetch five cases of Polar beer that they had left in the trail.
The two young men were made to fetch the beers for about a mile, and when they complained of being tired, they were punched in their abdomens and forced to walk faster.
“I begged them, I tell them I can’t make it, but they keep cuffing me in my ribs,” Wong related.
Eventually, they reached a house which is located opposite the Mabaruma Secondary School, where they were made to put down the beers.
The men then told the youths to turn around and run.
“They crank dey gun and I begged them not to shoot us if we run. I say, ‘Officer, if we run, please don’t shoot we’.”
Later that morning, the two youths, with blood oozing from their mouths and ears, reported the matter to the police.
They were surprised to learn that the men whom they thought were policemen were in fact soldiers. The soldiers were summoned and were positively identified, despite denying taking part in any such incident.
But a part of the incident was also witnessed by some residents, who identified the soldiers, including a lieutenant, as the perpetrators.
Eventually, the lieutenant apologized to the youths and offered to replace the stolen cellular phone.
“He begged we to settle the matter. Even the police asked us to settle,” Wong told Kaieteur News.
But, with the pain becoming unbearable, Wong and an older relative decided to travel to Georgetown, since the hospital at Port Kaituma does not have an x-ray machine.
While in the city, they contacted an attorney-at-law, who subsequently contacted the police at Mabaruma.
However, no one there volunteered to speak to the attorney. Wong is expected to be examined by a doctor today, while his friend, who is reportedly not in a financial position to travel, is being treated in the North West District.
According to the older relative who accompanied Wong, this type of behaviour by the security forces is nothing new.
“They do it all the time, but because we are Amerindians and poor, people are afraid to report these incidents. It is only because we had to come to town that we decided to speak,” the relative related.
This newspaper tried to contact the Guyana Defence Force but was unsuccessful.
This recent incident comes at a time when there is still controversy over who killed the eight miners at Lindo Creek during the hunt for Rondell ‘Fine Man’ Rawlins and his gang.

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