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President should immediately order independent inquiry into torture – PSC

Nov 05, 2009 News

…as Gouveia somersaults on Kaieteur News graphic publications

President Bharrat Jagdeo should immediately order an independent inquiry into the administrative and operational command structures of the Guyana Police Force which have allowed torture to take place, the Private Sector Commission said yesterday.
The Commission’s statement comes in the wake of allegations that the Police set alight the genitals of a 14-year-old suspect in the murder of former Region Three Vice Chairman Ramenauth Bisram.
“The Private Sector Commission is appalled at the evidence publicly presented through the media to the nation and to the world of this barbaric and deliberate act of torture committed by ranks at the Leonora Police Station on a 14-year-old child and other persons while officially conducting an investigation into the murder of Ramenauth Bisram,” Chairman of the PSC, Gerry Gouveia said.
The photographs appeared in the Saturday issue of Kaieteur News and started a ground swell of protest. But Gouveia was one of the critics of graphic photographs. He says that this incident has converted him.
The Commission, which represents the country’s largest businesses, condemned the heinous act and said it has requested an urgent meeting with the Minister of Home Affairs to discuss the matter.
“The PSC believes that these and other acts of torture by the security forces which remain unsatisfactorily investigated are a reflection of the lawlessness which is progressively overtaking our society,” Gouveia stated.
The Commission said these and other acts of torture, which are now widely reported internationally, have brought shame and immeasurable harm to the country. Also, the Commission declared that these acts of torture, perpetrated by the security forces, are now rapidly coming to define the country, government, and “indeed, all of us as a people for failing to effectively confront them.”
The PSC said that while it notes the official reaction and condemnation by officers of the Police Force, by the Minister of Home Affairs and the Commissioner of Police of this horrific behaviour, it wanted to remind the Minister and the Commission that this is not an isolated case and the public is justified in fast coming to the conclusion that these acts of torture are being condoned by elements in the hierarchy of the security forces.
“The PSC must ask the question: what value is a Police Force which cannot be trusted by the average person to protect and serve our citizens in the maintenance of law and order?”
In this case, the PSC said that it is apparent that there has been a deliberate and calculated attempt by the officers in charge at the Leonora Police station, and in all probability, senior ranks in command of those officers to conceal and cover up these barbaric acts.
The PSC said it believes that the public will have little confidence and faith in the capacity of the Guyana Police Force to internally conduct a full and impartial investigation of this matter.
The Commission endorsed the public statements of condemnation by the legal fraternity, religious organisations and all other members of civil society and their calls for resolute action on the part of the government to investigate this and other incidents of the use of torture by the security forces when conducting their investigations.
The PSC has requested to meet with the victim and his parents.

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