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EXPOSE THEM!
One female reporter from this newspaper was brought to tears last Friday when she was harassed and intimidated outside of GECOM’s headquarters. She openly witnessed the same treatment of her colleagues. Another reporter was forced to leave the area because he was described in the most sickening manner. Fearing for his physical safety, he left. Not only were reporters threatened, but so too were the international observers.
The political party that these supporters were celebrating and obviously ‘protecting’ has claimed a lack of knowledge of this matter. That was not unexpected.
The Guyana Press Association (GPA) issued a statement condemning the verbal assault, threats and attempts at physically assaulting its members outside GECOM’s headquarters and tabulation centres. According to the GPA:
“From the start of results tabulation, GECOM and the Guyana Police Force have played dodge ball with the safety and security of media workers, and requests for a secured spot outside of the tabulation centre have been met with refusal… Media workers were verbally abused based on the media outlet they represented and their ethnicity, as members of the crowd attempted to even check packages that included their equipment and food in their possession.”
Many of the journalists threatened and intimidated, indicated that this was done in full view of members of the Guyana Police Force who did little to stem the threats, verbal assault and open intimidation. That too is not unusual.
In a joint statement on the 13th March, the Ambassador of the United States of America, H.E. Sarah-Ann Lynch, the British High Commissioner, H.E. Greg Quinn, the Canadian High Commissioner, H.E. Lilian Chatterjee, and the Ambassador of the European Union, H.E. Fernando Ponz Cantó, reported that they decided to leave the Region 4 tabulation process since it had become clear that a transparent and credible process was not in place, and that they were concerned about the intimidation tactics observed against those seeking to ensure that a credible process was followed.
The media has video footage and photographs of those involved in the threats and verbal assaults. They also have footage and photographs of the police ranks who took no action to stem the harassment, threats and verbal abuse of media workers and international observers.
The Guyana Press Association is not helpless. It has the capacity to do something about what happened to its members. It can do much better than complaining. The question is: “Will it?”
Walter Rodney, the late co-leader of the Working People’s Alliance, and his party faced such tactics. His solution was to expose those involved.
The Guyana Press Association can do the same. It can publish the footage and photographs of those involved in threatening, verbally abusing and intimidating media workers. It can call on the public to help identify those involved. Social media will be a powerful tool in helping to obtain the identities of those involved. It can front-page the images of these persons. It can air the footage on newscasts. It can do the same on social media.
Guyana is a small society, and it should not be difficult to quickly determine the identities of those involved. Having received that information, the Guyana Press Association can provide this information to the police. If the police fail to act, the GPA can move to institute private criminal charges against those individuals concerned. This is a course open to the Guyana Press Association. But will it go this route?
The incidents of last week were not the first time that media workers have been subjected to such treatment. And unless something is done about it, it will continue. Those who verbally abused and threatened media workers, including hurling racial epithets, must be held accountable for their criminal conduct. They must be exposed, identified and brought to justice.
But will this happen? You know the answer to that question.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper)
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