Linden killings…AFC rejects section of Terms of Reference

Aug 10, 2012 News

The Alliance For Change (AFC) is at odds with Government and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) over the Terms of Reference for the Commission of Inquiry into the Linden shooting deaths.
The final draft to the Terms of Reference (TORs) was presented to the parties yesterday but the AFC is flatly rejecting the section which calls for an inquiry into whether any political or other forces were involved in promoting the protest action before and after the shooting.
AFC feels that this section of the TORs is irrelevant to the cause of death of the three Lindeners, while describing it as being “insulting” to the victims as well as “inflammatory.”
In a statement issued yesterday, the AFC said that the Office of the President yesterday handed over the Terms of Reference (TORs) for the Commission of Inquiry into the shooting death of Ivan Lewis, Ron Somerset and Shemroy Bouyea.
The party said that most of the proposed terms were generally acceptable by the AFC.
“However, the second proposed term of reference which purports to propose an inquiry “into the role, involvement, (if any, of any political) and other forces in organising, mobilising and promoting the protest actions from their commencement and immediately after the shooting on July 18th 2012” is simply unacceptable to the AFC. It is with a significant degree of disappointment that it appears that politics have trumped the desire for justice and fair play.
“The AFC is of the strong view that the deaths of these three innocent citizens who were exercising their protected constitutional right to protest should not be used as basis to attempt to score cheap political points. Their deaths are far too important and the loss too great for such a dis-service to be done to them. It is of no relevance into the cause of death of Messrs. Lewis, Bouyea and Somerset who organized, mobilized or promoted the protest on July 18th 2012.
“As citizens they had a right to protest even if they were protesting the simple fact that they were being treated unfairly. To subsume the importance of the unjustified shooting to death of these citizens in an inquiry about the organization, mobilization and promotion of protest actions is not only an insult to the deceased but inflammatory.
“The AFC fears that if the TORs include the issue of who was responsible for the organization, mobilization and promotion of the protest, the citizenry may unwittingly be given the impression that there is something wrong in exercising your constitutional right to protest.
The AFC urged the Office of the President and the APNU to “rethink the inclusion of this specific term of reference for the COI.”
“The AFC, will however, leave it up to the people of Linden to determine whether this should be included in the Commission of Inquiry into the deaths of the Lindeners.”
In response, Attorney General, Anil Nandlall said that the AFC’s position was regrettable, since the party had not raised these objections when the TORs were being drafted.
“It’s quite unfortunate, because all the parties committed themselves to having an Inquiry whose mandate would be wide and embracing enough to capture every facet of what transpired at Linden, so that at the end of the process we would have had a report emanating from the Commission that would’ve been comprehensive and would’ve addressed the concerns of every conceivable interest group,” Nandlall told Kaieteur News.
“It’s from this perspective that we (APNU and the government) have agreed to these terms. We didn’t hear any objections being raised by the AFC when we were crafting the terms. They (the TORs) were not unilaterally done. Each draft was circulated to each party to have their input and we went through several tries. It’s regrettable that they have these objections now.
“They seem to want the Commission of Inquiry to pursue a narrow agenda which serves them. That is not the purpose of the Commission of Inquiry. The Inquiry is to give dispassionate account of what transpired.”
Nandlall said that the draft of the TORs was the final one, though it could be subject to minor changes.

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