The call from the PNC/R followed the killing Saturday of 18-year-old University of Guyana architectural student, Yohance Douglas. Douglas was shot dead by the Police while he and four others were in a motorcar on Sheriff Street. Two others were also shot, one in the jaw, and the other, in the hand.

The youth’s death has sparked protest action by the University of Guyana Students Society, which has the support of some of the academic staff. Yesterday, students from secondary schools in the City, including St. Joseph High, Douglas’ alma mater, joined the protest. Nightly vigils have been held at the spot where the young man was shot.

At a press conference yesterday at the party’s Sophia headquarters, party leader, Mr. Robert Corbin also listed a number of demands. Among them are that the injured young men be provided with the best and most appropriate medical attention available in Guyana and beyond and that no expense be spared in that effort.

The party wants the name(s) of the perpetrators of “these crimes” to be disclosed and that they should be immediately charged with murder. It has also demanded that there be an independent inquiry “with the full involvement of International Human Rights bodies to investigate extra-judicial killings in Guyana.

Warning that the PNC/R will not accept the “palliative offering up of a few policemen in this instance”, the party said it will not “stand idly by if there are any attempts by the administration to undermine the exercise of the peoples’ constitutional rights to protest this gross outrage”.

“The PNC/R calls upon all national, regional and international human rights and other concerned organisations to raise their voices against this gross violation of human rights in Guyana.

The PNC/R leader pointed out that the young victims of “this outrage” represent the “best of young Guyanese manhood”.

“These were serious university students and athletes with healthy and wholesome attitudes to life. The PNC/R and we believe, most of Guyana, are convinced beyond any doubt that these young men are not criminals. The attempt to so label them is a gross insult to the intelligence of the Guyanese people and a further injustice to the young men and their families,” Corbin said.