Whatever happened to Bill Charron?

Jun 18, 2023 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Kaieteur News – Last Tuesday marked the 43^rd anniversary of the assassination of renowned Guyanese historian and former co-leader of the Working People’s Alliance, Dr. Walter Rodney. If his party held any commemorative event for this anniversary, it certainly was not well-publicized.

Before leaving office in 2015, the PPP/C government had initiated a Commission of Inquiry into the assassination of Walter Rodney. The Report of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) laid the blame for Rodney’s assassination at the feet of the State.

The Report concluded that the prime suspect, Gregory Smith, did not act alone but had the active and full support and participation and encouragement of and/or was aided and abetted by the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Defence Force, other agencies of the State and the political directorate. It went on to conclude that Rodney’s assassination could only have been done with the knowledge of Prime Minister Forbes Burnham.

The APNU+AFC government aborted the COI because the revelations which were emanating from it were beginning to become too embarrassing for the PNCR and some of its leaders and associates, both past and present.

The Rodney COI was ended at a crucial stage. The Barbadian Senior Counsel, representing the Rodney family, had begun to interrogate one of the witnesses. Under stiff cross examination, the witness became agitated in the witness box, over an interesting line of questioning that caught the witness completely off guard. That witness is still alive and kicking and there is much more questioning to which he should be subjected.

The abrupt and premature termination of the COI ended any prospects of another witness being placed on the stand and questioned about his or her own role in the circumstances leading to the assassination of Rodney and the subsequent departure of the main suspect in Rodney’s killing. Other critical witnesses including a former Crime Chief of Guyana, who may have had information about this case, was not called because of the aborting of the case.

On the 40^th anniversary of the assassination of Rodney, the National Security Archives published a series of documents which it obtained from the US government via a Freedom of Information request. The documents showed that the US government did pursue some level of inquiries into Rodney’s assassination. It is unfortunate that those documents were not made public prior to or during the course of the COI because it would have made the cross examination of certain witnesses extremely interesting.

A US diplomat actually visited the place where the prime suspect in Rodney’s assassination worked in French Guiana after fleeing Guyana. The diplomat conducted an interview with a man called Bill Charron who claimed to know things about the assassination and the persons behind it.

It has been more than 40 years since that interview took place. It is not known whether Bill Charron is still alive or if he has passed on, and if so whether he left any notes detailing what he knew about the assassination of Rodney apart from what he told that US diplomat.

The local media has shown no enthusiasm to undertake investigations to dig up facts which were not revealed in the COI. In fact, since Rodney’s assassination in 1980, only two journalists were known to pursue evidence in the case. Both are now dead, one being the former Editor of the Stabroek News, Sharief Khan who actually did an interview with the prime suspect, Gregory Smith, while he was still a fugitive.

Gregory Smith is now dead too. But there are still others who were not able to give evidence in the COI who may be able to provide information or knowledge which they have about Rodney’s assassination.

It is hoped that some person or persons within the local media would seek interviews from those who did not give evidence but were scheduled to do so. And to obtain from them whatever information they may had concerning the assassination of Rodney.

Someone should also run a check to see whether Bill Charron who once worked for Sahlamn Seafoods and who was responsible for employing Gregory Smith is still alive and if not whether he left any written notes about what he knew about Rodney’s assassination.

Unfortunately, there has been a noticeable dearth of local investigative journalism. The absence of robust investigative journalism leaves a void in society, where transparency, accountability, and the pursuit of truth are compromised.

Investigative journalism can help fill an important lacuna in the public’s knowledge concerning the assassination of Dr. Walter Rodney. It is not too late for some of our promising young journalists to undertake more investigative journalism, especially into this dark chapter in Guyana’s history by interviewing those who were not able to give evidence in the Rodney COI.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this newspaper and its affiliates.)

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• Bill Charron, Commission of Inquiry, Dr. Walter Rodney, Peeping Tom, Working Peoples’ Alliance

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