Kill them all?

Oct 20, 2013 Editorial

As the killing spree continues in Guyana, with the lives of one in every 8,000 citizens lost so far this year in violent crimes, there is no doubt that our people want an end to wanton criminal activities, by all means available.
We have seen the return of two types of horrendous crimes – armed banditry and execution-style killings. Both methods of underworld operations complement each other, and have one thing in common – the ready access to and use of guns.
It is for this reason that people want “to cut steel with steel”, and they applaud newly appointed Commissioner of Police Leroy Brumell, for declaring that we must take back our streets from criminals.
But “all means available” must in a law-governed State, be legal means. Not tit-for-tat, cold-blooded, extra-judicial killing for every felony-murder or execution. An eye for an eye, Mahatma Gandhi once warned, would lead the world into darkness.
While we encourage our security forces to go after criminals, and to bring them to justice, we cannot condone police retaliation against suspected unarmed persons. It brings no relief or closure, when conflicting reports are made about how alleged bandits or would-be bandits met their death at the hands of armed crime fighters.
Such conflict arose recently in the death of three youths -Jermaine Canterbury, Mark Anthony Joseph and Romario Gouveia – whom police alleged, were killed in a shootout as they were about to rob a patron of a Georgetown hotel.
The last of the trio to die, 19-year-old Gouveia, was to disclose that he was shot after he was apprehended and made to lie down on his face, and that his two cousins were killed whilst they were in a police vehicle.
Those matters were engaging the attention of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and of the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), and we are not aware that these investigations have been completed.
It is in this context that we express abhorrence over what was allegedly said on Facebook, by Ms. Jaya Manickchand to whom these chilling words were ascribed: “I am happy they are dead and I don’t care about the details of a PM. In fact why is the State even wasting money on them. My sentiments would be the same for all murderers and thieves”.
Now, Ms. Manickchand is a lawyer, and she ought to be learned about the presumption of innocence in our legal system. If caught, tried and convicted, a thief would get a prison term, not the death penalty. Only convicted murderers would die, but none on Death Row, has suffered death by hanging in the past two decades.
We truly feel the loss of every life taken by bandits in the many episodes of armed intrusions into homes and business places. We condemn these senseless killings, and demand that the killers be brought to justice. We will defend the right of the accused persons to legal representation, and to a fair trial, just as we cherish the right to life of all peaceful and innocent citizens, who today live in constant fear.
But we will not rejoice in the summary execution of suspects or of persons apprehended in connection with criminal activities. We must not condone vigilante or death squad killings. And whilst we cannot in good conscience put down our crime fighters who return fire in the line of duty, we caution against the use of excessive force in the apprehension of criminals. It is a folly that we could eradicate crime by killing all criminals.
Ms. Manickchand’s reaction appears to be cold and insensitive. She should be mindful that she is the nominee of the ruling PPP/C on the Guyana Elections Commission, and was a quasi head of the Legal Aid Centre.
Being happy over anyone’s death could send a wrong message that, in Guyana, the Rule of Law does not matter.

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