PNC/R welcomes Amnesty's criticism of government
Stabroek News
April 27, 2002
The PNC/R has welcomed the statement by Amnesty International (AI) cautioning government on its language in response to criticisms of excesses by some members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF).
"It is a well thought out and incisive statement based on AI's evidently careful, ongoing monitoring and understanding of the situation in Guyana," PNC/R's Member of Parliament (MP), Lance Carberry, told reporters at a press conference hosted by the party on Thursday.
Government dubbed the AI statement "hasty and "ill-advised" pointing out it ignored arguments that the GPF and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had initiated probes into alleged police excesses.
Carberry said AI's sentiments were in full accord with those of the PNC/R and other concerned segments of Guyanese society.
"Amnesty International has confirmed what the PNC/R has been saying all along, and that is that the extra-judicial killings by certain out-of-control elements of the Guyana Police Force cannot be justified in the fight against crime and are in fact undermining the crime-fighting capability of the force," he said.
AI issued its release after Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon, accused the main opposition PNC/R and sections of the media of pursuing "terroristic" policies and increasing the
risks policemen faced by encouraging anti-police sentiment.
AI cautioned government against inflammatory language, which it said might undermine the right of freedom of expression and could lead to further human rights violations.
Carberry said the PNC/R has been branded "anti-police", "pro-criminal" and "terroristic" by the ruling PPP/Civic because it has constantly pointed out the police excesses and its continued call for a commission of enquiry into the operation and functioning of the force.
He said the PNC/R is cautioning that it would be ill-advised to ignore the exhortations of a reputable international organisation such as AI.
He remarked that it was alarming to learn from the AI statement that government has rejected the organisation's previous requests for the review of the Target Special Squad, in the same way the administration had dismissed similar calls by the PNC/R and other groups in Guyana.
"The calculated sloth and evident unwillingness of the regime to investigate or hold Coroner's inquests into police killings is well established and known by all," he stated.
Carberry said it was the inaction of the government, which led a private citizen to file criminal charges against a police officer, who allegedly fired the bullet which killed Shaka Blair of Buxton, East Coast Demerara.
"But it really bespeaks a sorry state of affairs when a private citizen has to act in this way because the government cannot be relied on to discharge its moral and constitutional responsibility to the citizenry," he said.
Carberry pointed out the note of caution from AI in its statement which he quoted: "We recognise the duty of states under international human rights law to protect their populations from violent criminal acts. However, crime-fighting must not be undermined through deliberate failure to adhere to international principles on the use of force and firearms. Human rights standards are not simply legal niceties. Rather, they provide the framework through which all human rights may be protected."
Carberry said Dr Luncheon's assertion that no commission of inquiry would be set up to examine extra-judicial killings was unacceptable and the reasons he proffered were untenable.
He said that in this instance, clearly the public good was being subordinated to narrow political and personal considerations.
The PNC/R MP declared that his party had been vindicated by AI's stance against police excesses and said it was expected that other international organisations, financial institutions and aid donors would take note of the statement.