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Alleged police brutality at Sparendaam…Officer in Charge transferred immediately to police Canine Section
The Guyana Police Force has taken swift action in the matter involving the alleged torture of a prisoner at the Sparendaam Police Station.
The officer in charge of the sub-division, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, has been transferred with immediate effect to the Canine Section of the Force.
The tortured Junior Thornton remained in hospital up to yesterday.
However, the move is being seen as premature, especially since the investigation into the matter is just three days old.
The officer in question was also linked to the torture of another teenager in 2009 and it is believed that that weighed heavily on the decision to transfer him to a low profile section of the Force.
On Monday, the public was fed with another piece of shocking information when 19-year-old Junior Thornton, who is currently hospitalized with burns to both of his hands, alleged that his injuries were inflicted when police doused them with methylated spirits and set them alight.
The incident reportedly occurred two Tuesday’s ago but was only brought to light earlier this week when family members took their complaint to the Police Complaints Authority on Monday.
An immediate investigation was ordered and it is being undertaken by the Police Office of Professional Responsibility.
Yesterday, Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee, was quoted in this newspaper as saying, “The Minister of Home Affairs has never issued any instructions or directives to the Commissioner of Police or his ranks to carry out such acts. The ranks are answerable therefore to the Commissioner; they must answer to him for their misbehavior, which is bringing the Force into disrepute. The Commissioner must tell the public what are his findings of the investigations he has ordered.”
It would appear that his comments sparked immediate action from the Acting Commissioner Seelall Persaud, since the now transferred officer received his orders early yesterday morning.
But some of the officer’s colleagues believe that he is being once again made a scapegoat, especially since he was not actually involved in the alleged act.
So far no action has been taken against the Station Sergeant or the Detective Officer in Charge at the Sparendaam Police Station.
“The Detective Officer, who is also an Assistant Superintendent was directly responsible for the prisoner since according to the police, the man was being held on robbery under arms suspicion, which makes him the direct responsibility of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID),” a Detective Superintendent of Police told this newspaper.
He said that in any case, the transferred officer could not have released the prisoner without the approval of the senior CID operative at the station.
“The investigation hasn’t even gone half way yet and this officer has already been transferred. What about the Station Sergeant? He remains in charge,” the Superintendent stated.
Kaieteur News understands that as a result of the investigations, several ranks who might be implicated have reported ill.
In fact, this newspaper was reliably informed that the station sergeant was rushed to hospital yesterday after complaining of feeling unwell.
And questions surround the position adopted against the rank who actually committed the act against Thornton. There are still no reports of anyone being under close arrest.
The swiftness of the action taken against the Assistant Superintendent in the Thornton case is in stark contrast to those taken against ranks, who were fingered in other cases of police brutality.
According to another senior officer, apart from the transferred Assistant Superintendent, the investigation should focus on four other senior ranks at the station level.
“The man was there for a crime therefore he should fall under the direct responsibility of the CID. The investigation should focus on the ranks, who inflicted the injuries— the SO in Charge of the shift, the SO in Charge of CID, the Station Sergeant and the Officer in Charge of the CID,” the officer said.
He referred to the escape of the now dead Jermaine “Skinny” Charles from the same police station.
In that case, the Station Sergeant was immediately transferred to the police Mounted Branch where she remained until her retirement from the Force.
The officer also reminded of the case of the tortured Tywon Thomas at the Leonora Police Station, when the then Commander Paulette Morrison was relieved of her command post.
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