RSS and the Linden probe

Apr 10, 2025 Editorial, News

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Editorial…

Kaieteur News- The main opposition party, Peoples National Congress Reform (PNCR) has rejected the decision by the government to use the Barbados-headquartered Regional Security System (RSS) to investigate the killings in Linden, citing past failures and that the organisation cannot be deemed impartial and independent.

They also said that the track record of that body doing work in Guyana has left much to be desired and that if the government truly cares about investigating the killings, they would look somewhere else. These sentiments have found resonance with some Guyanese who have not forgotten the role played by the RSS in the probe into the murder of the Henry brothers from West Coast Berbice.

Lindener, Ronaldo Peters, 23, was shot dead on Monday afternoon by a policeman who claimed that the youth was wanted for rape and that, in trying to arrest him, his firearm accidentally went off and shot him. In the ensuing protest on Tuesday, another young man, Keon Dan Fogenay, was shot and killed by police who were trying to beat back protesters.

President Irfaan Ali on Tuesday while commenting on the killings said: “I have been fully briefed on the current situation in Linden. The Commissioner has advised me on the immediate actions taken: the police officers involved in the two incidents are currently under close arrest; a full investigation will be conducted with the support of the Regional Security System (RSS); every aspect of these incidents will be examined thoroughly and transparently, with external oversight,” Ali said in a statement.

The RSS, was here to conduct an investigation into the killing of the Henry brothers back in 2020 and as Chairman of the PNCR, Shurwayne Holder said they have been a complete failure. Holder said, “We do not believe that a thorough, impartial or independent investigation can be done by the RSS. We’ve seen the work of the RSS before, when it was the case of the Henry boys back in 2020; we saw them say that the RSS would have done whatever investigation and that was a complete failure. Up to today, we don’t have closure into the Henry boys’ matter…both parents of those boys died not knowing what exactly transpired.”

To begin with, Guyana unlike back in 2020, is now a full member of the RSS having formally joined the organisation in September 2022, after President Ali signed the Instrument of Accession. Soon after, this country took over the rotating chairmanship. The RSS was established in the early 1970s and 1980s in response to the necessity for a coordinated response to security challenges that were threatening regional stability. In order to establish “mutual assistance on request”, four Organization of the Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) countries, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Barbados in October 1982. St. Kitts and Nevis joined after gaining independence in September 1983, and Grenada joined in January 1985. The MOU was revised in 1992, and the Treaty, which was signed in St. George’s, Grenada, gave the RSS legal standing in March 1996.

That Guyana is a member of the RSS and is probably one of its top financiers, that organisation can hardly be considered independent and impartial to be deployed here to investigate the case that involves the state premier law enforce organisation- the Guyana Police Force. Additionally, based on the structure of the RSS at the top, is the council of ministers of which Guyana’s Home Affairs Minister, Robeson is a member. The commissioners of police and defence chiefs of the various member countries are also part of the body. It is anyone’s guess how their influence can compromise an investigation.

Flushed with oil money that has been spent recklessly, the President Ali administration can afford to engage Scotland Yard or the Federal Investigation Bureau (FBI) to conduct a proper investigation into the incidents and make recommendations to improve the operations of the Guyana Police Force, instead of spending US$50,000 ($10m) on a firm to lobby the Trump Administration. The PPP/C in previous administrations and they are doing the same currently, often resorts to these dubious entities or individuals to conduct very serious investigations that have the potential to further inflame deep ethnic divisions that exist in our society today. It begs the questions whether they are really ever serious about getting to the truth or fixing the mess.

(RSS and the Linden probe)

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• citing past failures, Henry brothers, Regional Security System (RSS), Shurwayne Holder

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