How can we forget this period of absolute State- sponsored lawlessness?

Dec 30, 2018 Letters

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Dear Editor,

On Wednesday 4th December 2002, a Guyana Defence Force patrol in the area of Good Hope, East Coast Demerara, intercepted and searched a vehicle which contained an arsenal of weapons. The three-man party consisted of Shaheed Roger Khan, Haroon Yahya and Sean Belfield, a then serving member of the Guyana Police Force. The cache included M-16 assault rifles with night vision devices, Uzi sub-machine gun with silencer, Glock 9mm pistols, 12-gauge shotgun, other small calibre weapons, bullet-proof vests, helmets, a computer ( capable of intercepting cellular phone calls) and other electronic gadgetry with digitized electronic maps of Georgetown and certain targeted East Coast villages.
Escaped Convict and drug Kingpin, Shaheed Roger Khan ( will now be referred to as Khan), was based in Georgetown and was the head of The “Phantom Squad” a murder-for-hire-killing-squad allegedly aligned with the PPP.
From at least 2001 until his arrest in 2006 Khan was responsible for the deaths of over hundreds of Guyanese men, including Political Activist Ronald Waddell.
The United States Government compared Khan to Pablo Escobar and stated that he was one of the most notorious drug dealers, gun runners, money launderers, and narcotic traffickers in the history of Guyana
Mr. Ronald Gajraj, former member of the Guyana Defence Force was court martialled, and dishonorably discharged for misappropriation of funds. However, he was subsequently promoted to the then Minister of Home Affairs by the PPP Administration. Gajraj recruited the services of the Drug King pin Khan and other drug lords, along with renegade members of the Tactical Services Squad (TSS) to carry out the genocidal assault on hundreds of Guyanese Citizens.
The US State Department International Narcotics Control Strategy Report for 2005 which was released in March 2006 named Khan and stated “Drug traffickers appear to be gaining a significant foothold in Guyana’s timber industry. In 2005, the Guyana Forestry Commission granted a State Forest Exploratory Permit for a large tract of land in Guyana’s interior to Aurelius Inc., a company controlled by known drug trafficker Shaheed ‘Roger’ Khan. Such concessions in the remote interior may allow drug traffickers to establish autonomous outposts beyond the reach of Guyanese law enforcement.”
Suriname’s former Chief of Police Chandrikapersad Santokhi deemed Khan a threat to the national security of Guyana and Suriname and other countries and linked him to plots to assassinate government and judicial officials in Suriname. According to Santokhi, international agencies, including those in the USA, had been looking for Khan. On the other hand, Head of the Presidential Secretariat and Chairman of the Central Intelligence Committee Dr. Roger Luncheon stated that the Guyana Government could find “no compelling evidence” for Khan to be investigated.
The Minister of Agriculture Satyadeow Sawh ( a Canadian Citizen), who allegedly denied Shaheed Roger Khan the right to transport lumber from Guyana was assassinated in his own home April 22nd, 2006, along with his sister (Phulmattie Persaud), brother (Rajpat Rai Sawh), and security guard (Curtis Robertson).The Royal Canadian Mounted Police was ready and willing to assist Guyana with its investigations in the murders and even though they sent official correspondences to the Jagdeo-led government, the government did not accept their assistance.
Journalist and APNU Political Activist Ronald Waddell who was outspoken against the Jagdeo-led Government was also assassinated January 2006. An informant for the US government confessed that Khan ordered the said execution. Leaked telephone records revealed that Khan frequently communicated with the late Minister of Home Affairs Mr. Ronald Gajraj particularly before and after most killings.
As stated in the first paragraph, Khan was allowed to acquire intercept equipment which enabled him to listen to the conversations and determine the locations of his intended victims. Peter Myers, Co-director of the UK firm Smith Myers, testified in court ( during Khan’s trial in the US ) that the cellular intercept equipment used by Khan had been sold to the Guyana Government. It was further stated that Minister of Health Dr. Leslie Ramsammy had purchased the equipment on behalf of the Guyana Government and that Carl Chapman, a representative of Smith Myers Communications, had travelled to Guyana to train Khan in its use.
In 2006, police issued an arrest warrant for Khan after coming under international pressure. Khan then placed a whole page advertisement in the newspapers 12th May 2006 boasting that “During the crime spree in 2002, I worked closely with the crime-fighting sections of the Guyana Police Force and provided them with assistance and information at my own expense”.
Khan who then fled to Suriname, was arrested in Paramaribo and subsequently handed over to the US authorities while in transit in Trinidad, to face charges for guns and ammunition crimes which he committed since 1992.
Subsequently, President Bharrat Jagdeo appointed a commission to investigate Former Minister of Home Affairs Ronald Gajraj, who was suspended from duties following local and international pressure about his involvement with Khan and the Phantom Killing Squad. The commission reported it could find no direct link of Gajraj’s involvement in extrajudicial killings, and he subsequently resumed his post. The U.S. State Department protested this action by the Jagdeo Government stating “We believe significant questions remain unanswered regarding his involvement in serious criminal activities.” Gajraj was then removed from his Ministerial Post and was appointed Ambassador to India. At this time, Ronald Gajraj and Floyd McDonald who was the Commissioner of Police, both had their United States visas suspended.
Special Agent Cassandra Jackson of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration said in her affidavit to support the charges against Khan, “Khan was ultimately able to control the cocaine industry in Guyana, in large part, because he was backed by a paramilitary squad that would murder, threaten, and intimidate others at Khan’s directive. Khan’s enforcers committed violent acts and murders on Khan’s orders that were directly in furtherance of Khan’s drug trafficking conspiracy.”
Information from leaked US Embassy cables revealed that Roland Bullen, Former United States Ambassador to Guyana for the period August 14, 2003 to August 26, 2006, advised his government that Khan enjoyed the protection of the PPP government through Former Minister of Home Affairs Ronald Gajraj and former Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon. Ambassador Bullen met with Minister of Home Affairs Gajraj’s Successor and Chief Whip of the PPP Government Comrade Gail Texeira and concluded that the PPP government was comfortable with Khan because “he was on their side(SIC)”.
In a July 13, 2009, cable, the then Charge d’Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Georgetown, Karen Williams, advised the U.S. State Department that the then Minister of health Leslie Ramsammy had strong links to Khan and as a consequence, the embassy was reviewing its relationship with the Ministry of Health.
Political Activist Courtney Crum-Ewing who was constantly seen peacefully protesting in front of the Attorney General’s Chambers was assassinated a few nights before the 2015 general and regional elections.
It is estimated that there were 1,701 murders during the tenure of Bharrat Jagdeo. Between the period of 2002 and 2006, 784 Guyanese were murdered, an average of 157 murders per year. I challenge anyone to double check these facts.
How can we forget this period of absolute State- Sponsored Lawlessness, terrorism and Extra Judicial Killings that took place under the PPP? I have concluded that the PPP is a Mafia parading a Political party.

Joseph Singh (PH.DBA)

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