Latest update February 13th, 2025 1:56 PM

Guyana's largest selling daily and New York's most popular weekly

Latest News

THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO ACT

Nov 01, 2008 Editorial

The Minister of Agriculture has come in for a fair bit of criticism over his remark that the men (detained by the Joint Services) were roughed up and not tortured.
Those criticizing the minister’s statement made in Parliament may have already formed a judgment on the allegations based on footage of the victims which were shown on television.
The minister, on the other hand, may have based his opinion on the findings of the report into torture. This report may have found that the men were not tortured but were subjected to rough treatment. Thus, it is possible that the minister was simply expressing an opinion based on what the report said.
However, the report has not been made public, and many of those who are at odds with the minister’s position have not had the benefit of its findings.
We appreciate that because of the nature of the arrests made, and the nature of the investigation, which would have touched on matters of national security, including confidential details of events that precipitated the arrests of the men, the Government may be reluctant to make this report public.
We, however, feel that the Government could at least issue a sanitized statement on the findings of the report, so that the public and the human rights committee could make a more informed judgement on the allegations.
The PPP is under a strong moral compulsion to divorce itself from charges that under its remit there has been torture.
It needs to send a strong message that it does not condone such practices and would not stand idly by and allow any citizen, regardless of that person’s character or reputation, to be subject to cruel and inhuman treatment while in official custody.
How it deals with the torture allegations will stand as a test of its sincerity in this matter.
So far, it has not done well. It has consistently refused to reveal the findings of the report. Even as we have stated before, it wished to keep the report confidential because of certain facts which could compromise continuing investigations into the dismantling of criminal networks.
The PPP Government, which came to power after protesting the human rights record of the former government, needs to set the bar far higher. It needs to demonstrate a stated commitment towards the just and lawful treatment of persons who are arrested by the joint services.
It needs to demonstrate a commitment to the rule of law and to the human rights of the citizens of this country.
It therefore needs to be more transparent in the investigation that it launched. It has not been. So far, all we have been told is that the report did not deal with the disciplining of anyone, since this was not in the mandate of the investigation.
If, therefore, the investigation was mainly to ascertain the truth of the allegations, it would have been able to determine whether there was any credibility in the charges that the men were tortured.
If it did not find any such evidence to establish torture, this effectively means that there can be no disciplinary action contemplated at another level. If, on the other hand, the report did find use of torture, then it means that, since the issue of discipline was outside of its mandate, the question of disciplining any rank guilty of torture rests with some other authority, be it the Government or the Defence Board.
The Government should end the speculation and at least publish a sanitized version of the report. If that report finds that the men were not tortured but simply roughed up, then it needs to be explained just how the investigation arrived at that verdict, if this verdict is consistent with its findings.
If, on the other hand, the findings make out a case of torture, the Government needs to act, and act decisively. Its failure to do so will only diminish its human rights record.

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show|| February, 10th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Eagles survive shaky start on Rain-affected opening day

Eagles survive shaky start on Rain-affected opening day

Feb 13, 2025

2025 CWI Regional 4-Day Championships Round 3… -GHE (1st innings 87-4) Blades 3-15 Kaieteur Sports-Guyana Harpy Eagles were put on the back-foot early thanks to rain, coupled with a fiery spell...
Read More
TCL hand over trophies for Mashramani Street Football Championships Final

TCL hand over trophies for Mashramani Street...

Feb 13, 2025

Nagassar was re-elected as President of GCUC

Nagassar was re-elected as President of GCUC

Feb 13, 2025

Herstelling and Eccles SC chalk up wins in latest EBDCA/D&R Construction 40-over fixtures

Herstelling and Eccles SC chalk up wins in latest...

Feb 13, 2025

Golden Jaguars CONCACAF home match against Guatemala relocated to Barbados

Golden Jaguars CONCACAF home match against...

Feb 13, 2025

Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport endorses Mashramani Street Football Championships

Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport endorses...

Feb 12, 2025

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.

Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]