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NEVER AGAIN!
It is widely believed that the now deceased, Fine Man, was the leader of the armed gang that carried out the Lusignan and Bartica massacres. The police also believe that he was responsible for the Lindo Creek massacre.
This past week there were observances to mark the second anniversary of the first two massacres. As the anniversary of the Lindo Creek massacre approaches, it is expected that there will also be observances of that tragedy.
In all the observances, the gang that carried out the assaults is condemned. But very little demands are made for the intellectual authors of these and the many other attacks which took place over the past nine years to be brought to justice. The authorities must not be content now that Fine Man and most of his cohorts are no longer a threat. They must go after the intellectual masterminds behind these massacres and they must haul these persons before the courts.
It is good that the victims of these massacres are remembered. But one of the purposes of the annual observances should be to ensure that such tragedies never ever occur in this country again.
What use is it paying homage to the victims, unless equal pressure is brought to bear on the authorities to take the necessary steps that no village, town or mining concession ever again remains as vulnerable as Lusignan, Bartica and Lindo Creek.
The susceptibility of citizens to criminal violence has been a feature of national life. But it took on frightening dimensions following the Mash Day jailbreak. And what subsequently developed in Buxton must never again be allowed to happen.
But is there the means to guarantee this? There have been periods during the crime wave when it was felt by citizens that the worst was over.
After the original prison escapees were neutralized, there was widespread feeling that danger had passed. But as we saw time and time again, there was a resurgence of violence which brought about new fears, and in the case of the massacres, astonishing levels of human cruelty.
When children could be slaughtered in the beds, it shows the depths of depravity with which we were dealing.
The Buxton gang seems to have been wiped out, but we must never rest on our laurels and assume that another gang cannot resurface. Those wishing to remember the victims of the massacres should do all within their power and use all the resources at their disposal to ensure that never again would this sort of brazenness rear its head in Guyana.
The organizers of the commemorative events ought not to sit comfortably until they are satisfied that such dreadfulness would never again repeat itself.
And the greatest tribute they can pay to those innocent souls that died is to pledge to use all the resources at this disposal to create a society in which such sadistic violence will never again resurface.
The first call should be on reforming the security forces. There should be no patronizing with the truth. The fact of the matter is that between 2001 and 2007, the security forces failed this nation on more than one occasion. Guyana became a laughing stock when it allowed a small group of men holed up in a small village to terrorise the country.
Over seven billion dollars were being spent each year on the security forces. Yet they could not contain a small gang holed up in a small village. The question that must be asked is why and what was done by the government to hold the security forces to account?
The other question also remains: Can the security forces that are so imbalanced defend the security of citizens so that what was endured from 2001 to 2008, never again reoccurs?
If we are serious about honouring the memories of those that were killed in the three massacres of 2008, the first call should be to have the intellectual authors of the crime wave exposed and brought to justice. The second call should be for the government to explain the failures of the security forces during that period.
There should always be on such anniversaries, a place for spiritual reflection. But what is needed is a more structured form of reflection which asks the authorities to account for their failure.
Finally, if such tragedies are never to happen again, then the government has to stop pussyfooting with the critical task of security reform. This was pushed on the front burner in the days following the Lusignan and Bartica massacres but no sooner had the situation stabilized, than it was relegated to storage.
Let us hope that this reckless dereliction does not turn around to haunt us!
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