Lady in red: Guyanese policemen and sodomy

Jan 19, 2014 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

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Why would a policeman push a baton into the rectum of an accused thereby severely lacerating his intestines? Why would policemen shoot dead three protestors and injure more than fourteen others in a demonstration where none of the activists assaulted any police personnel?
Why would policemen burn the reproductive areas of the genitals and the genitals themselves of a 15-year-old boy? Why would a high-ranking officer assault his wife in full view of dozens of spectators in a night club? Why would the then police commissioner himself perform forceful sex with a woman who came to him for help? Why would a policeman whip a helpless woman who covers her son on the ground from a mauling in a protest while other officers watch as the battering is filmed? Why would a policeman shoot dead a youth in Agricola after ordering him to lie on the ground?
These are just a few of thousands of examples of the bestiality, brutalities and beastly doings of the Guyana Police Force (GPF). Guyana has one of the globe’s most irresponsible, reckless, violent and lawless police organizations and a sheepish, cowardly, almost defunct population looks on helplessly.
So why did the policeman sodomize Colwyn Harding with a baton damaging his vital, internal organs? Why did the other officers laugh while watching?
First, I extend my sympathy to Harding’s mother, who is a very personal friend of mine and a committed political activist. Many people in the Guyanese society just think that these recalcitrant policemen are just ignorant and silly. They are not. These people are not as stupid as you think. They know they have protection for the heinous crimes they commit.
A Commission of Inquiry found that members of the GPF killed three protestors and wounded more than fourteen others. The Commissioner retained his job. The commander of Linden when the deaths occurred is still in the force. This same Commissioner told the media that a policeman who was filmed beating a mother and her son in a mining community didn’t kill anyone, so why the outcry to sanction him.
So you think the policemen are stupid? They know they have protection from their bosses, and their bosses will be given protection from the political bosses themselves. The fools and comics in this deadly game of violence are the Guyanese people. They will brave the rain and protest these brutalities only to see no action taken. Like some of us who staged a vigil for Colwyn Harding outside the Georgetown Hospital Wednesday evening in the pouring rain. I caught a cold later that night and could not make the picket line the next day.
Where are the policemen who burnt the reproductive parts of the fifteen-year-old?
Here is a contrast with Guyana and what takes place in civilized countries. In Turkey, an academic was walking in front of a police line during a demonstration doing absolutely nothing but looking on. A policeman came up to her and doused her with tear gas. It was captured on camera and it went viral on the internet titled, “The Lady in Red.” The policeman was charged, the trial is now on and the prosecutor is asking for a three-year jail sentence.
In Guyana, policemen burned the lower body of a 15-year-old boy. Policemen shot and killed three protestors and wounded more than fourteen others. Policemen were laughing as one of their colleagues sodomized an accused. Policemen were laughing as one of their colleagues beat a helpless woman and her son in a protest in the interior. Policemen shot an Agricola youth while he was lying on the ground. And where are the Police Commissioner, the Home Affairs Minister and the President after these bestialities were perpetuated by personnel in uniform from the GPF? They all remain in their designated positions.
So where does this society go from here after Colwyn Harding? Absolutely nowhere! There will be more beatings, more torture, and more shooting deaths. The policemen who will commit these crimes know that their superiors will protect them. The policemen know that there are politicians in power that will support their uncivilized conduct, because Guyana is a nation of extremely cowardly citizens.
Want to see how unchanging this country is? Go tomorrow to any police station, and despite the anger at what happened to Harding, you will see how lawless and sickening the policemen are in this land.
Unless this society demands extremely harsh penalties for lawless policemen and their superiors and political bosses, the police will torture more youths, kill more accused and brutalize more innocent citizens. After reading this column, go and listen to Chris De Burg sing “Lady In Red,” to relax your mind. One of the most beautiful songs ever written.

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