BISHOP Benedict Singh yesterday said recent developments suggest a large section of society, whether justified or not, has lost confidence in the ability of the Police to investigate cases involving their own.

In a statement titled ‘Violence is not the answer’, the Bishop said it is a concern that has to be addressed and one way of doing so would be to ensure that coroners’ inquests are expedited.

“In this task, both the Government and the Judiciary should act with due dispatch so that all cases of unnatural deaths can benefit from due process,” he said.

The Bishop said the Church is “grieved” by the shooting on Sheriff Street, Georgetown on Saturday morning when a University of Guyana student was killed and two of his friends wounded.

Yohance Douglas, 18, an architecture student, was shot dead; another student, Ronson Grey was seriously wounded and another, O’Neil King was wounded on the hand when Police intercepted a car in which they were in.

Bishop Singh said the Church is pleased by a statement in the press suggesting that the Government is predisposed towards an enquiry into the Police Force.

“We feel this will help allay many of the apprehensions of citizens and go a far way towards rebuilding public confidence in the institution,” he noted.

The Bishop said recent pressures and deadly threats faced by law enforcers “do not justify the resort to summary execution or murder by the Police.

“The Church has always insisted that human life is inviolable and its inherent dignity must be respected and protected.

“Where the evidence exists that persons employed to uphold the law have unnecessarily used excessive and deadly force, they should face the consequences”.

Noting that Guyana has become a nation “quick to condemn, but reluctant to praise”, Bishop Singh said the past year has also not been easy for law enforcement agencies.

He pointed to the disturbing trend of criminals targeting members of the Guyana Police Force in which ranks have seen many of their colleagues fall victim to criminal violence.

“In some instances, they faced torment and public slander by persons bent on attacking the Police for narrow agendas. On a daily basis, Police officers face the pressures of trying to come to grips with the crime situation while seeking to safeguard their own lives, a risk they undertake with very little public appreciation,” Bishop Singh said.

He declared that the wanton loss of precious human resources is not just a problem of law and order.

“These atrocities have and are coinciding with political stalemates between the Government and opposition on a number of pressing and urgent national issues. I urge our political leaders to recognise that the continuing impasse will not help the situation in our country. Leadership and statesmanship are needed not just to oppose and confront but also to heal and reconcile.”

Bishop Singh recalled that just before the passing of Leader of the Opposition and the People’s National Congress/Reform, Mr. Desmond Hoyte last December, he appealed to him and President Bharrat Jagdeo for gestures of goodwill and magnanimity.

“The movement towards political accommodation would, I believe, contribute immeasurably to the relaxing of social tensions within the society, thereby creating an atmosphere conducive to law and order.

“I therefore once again take this opportunity to stress to all our political leaders the urgency of political responsibility. The time for grandstanding is long gone,” Bishop Singh stated.

He also noted that the Roman Catholic Church has consistently spoken out against all forms of violence against the human person, denouncing the slaughter of the unborn through abortion; the death penalty; the murder of citizens and extra judicial killings, including by law enforcement officers.

“The Church extends its deepest sympathy to the families of all those who have lost relatives to violence, no matter their station in life. Murder is wrong and is a sin in the eyes of God.”

Bishop Singh said over the past year, Guyana has experienced unprecedented levels of violence, by no means peculiar to Guyana. “Only recently, the Antilles Episcopal Conference issued a pastoral letter entitled ‘Justice and Peace Shall Kiss’, which observed the spread of violence throughout the region.”

According to Singh, the Bishops equated criminal violence with social slavery, noting that it threatens to take away the dignity of the victim.

He said the Church has always insisted that violence begets violence and is not the answer to problems. “We have offered grace of forgiveness as a way of addressing this problem. There can be no peace without justice; no justice without reconciliation and no reconciliation where forgiveness is absent.”

Bishop Singh also referred to Pope John Paul’s World Day of Peace message, which noted the unbreakable bond between work for peace and the respect for the truth.