By Raphael Trotman

Some weeks ago, the Prime Minister of St Vincent Dr Ralph Gonsalves reignited the old debate about a political union of the countries of Caricom. To date, only the government of Trinidad and Tobago appears marginally interested in a discussion of a topic that still evokes deep sentiments and emotions in several of the larger territories. To unite or not to unite is the question that many leaders of today and tomorrow will have to ask of themselves and their constituencies in the years to come as globalisation, neo-colonialism and mega trade blocs take a hold on the world.

In the context of Guyana this vexed question is better put as whether we are capable of uniting or living with anyone. Are our habits too offensive so as to cause any potential partners to eschew the notion of a union with us? Where in fact do we measure up in terms of our Caribbean counterparts politically so as to bring us into unison with them, and to a propitious point for Union of Nations? Since the signing of the treaty of Chaguaramas in 1973 bringing into being the Caribbean Community of Nations we as a region have made tremendous strides but undoubtedly Guyana as one of the founding nations of this bold and imperative initiative has slipped and retrogressed significantly backwards and has failed to keep abreast with the norms and mores of our sister nations.

The underpinning criterion for a political union is uniformity in systems and conduct of government. No one can imagine a political union between Iraq and Barbados for example and so too is the expectation of a successful union between Guyana and its sister nations slipping away and becoming remote. Of all the countries of the English speaking Caribbean, Guyana remains an enigma. We are undoubtedly the most blessed with natural resources but paradoxically the most depressed. Poverty, ethnic tension, weak governments and institutions of state characterise the state of Guyana in 2003. A successful union will require urgent acts. These will include the immediate upgrade of our judicial system to meet the expected standard of the Caribbean Court of Justice. The last published Guyana Law Report is for the year 1976. The judiciary has certainly lost the enviable luster that it once had. No longer are our decided cases being used as precedents throughout the region and the world over. Reports are that in the most recent West Indian Law Report, only one Guyanese case is reported. This is a far departure from a time when we dominated those reports with the brilliant judgments of Haynes, Crane, Persaud and others.

Our political affairs to say the least are the most disastrous element of all. Successive Caricom interventions to set us back on the right track have had very limited success. Our continuous tinkering and experimenting with out constitution have in a sense eroded its efficacy and authority. Today we remain as divided on the issue of governance as we were on the eve of independence.

Our record on Human Rights is second perhaps only to that in Haiti. Amnesty International, The United States Department of State, and the British Foreign Office, to name a few, all paint a picture of a people gone mad . How are we to recover some sense of decency and regularity? The recent events of the lst March have driven home the naked truth that we have become barbaric in our behaviour such that we will be rendered unfit to be part of a regularly organised society of nations.

Guyana has been the seat of the Caricom secretariat and the irony is that we have fewer attributes of a healthy and exemplary state than others within the union. Even as we gaze upon the columns being erected at Liliendaal for the new secretariat one cannot help but wonder whether Guyana is the symbol of democracy and stability that qualifies it to maintain the seat of the secretariat. Without a doubt we do not embody the necessary attributes to qualify us to host the secretariat of a body of nations whose purpose and objective stands in sharp contradistinction to our beastly practices. It is time that the Caricom Heads of Government start to prevail on their Guyanese counterparts to bring this country into conformity with acceptable standards of governance, justice, human rights and equality.

The recently submitted (September, 2002) Caricom Report of the Regional Task Force on crime and security lists as one of the essentials for effective crime fighting, better police-citizen relations. All countries are enjoined to adopt uniform institutions and practices including the establishment of Parliamentary Oversight Committees to "oversee law enforcement". Guyana was well represented in the work of the task force and preparation of the report.

Two Saturdays ago a group of young men doing what all men at their age do, play, study and hang out were set upon by a vicious gang of persons claiming to be policemen. The result was that they left one dead, another critically injured and three others severely wounded mentally and psychologically. One wonders what manner of operational training is taking place within the police force that allows an event such as this to take place without an opportunity being first given to ascertain that the occupants in the car were the most vile, vicious and vitriolic criminals who were not entitled to be arrested, to a hearing, or to an explanation. What is it about the police force of today that allows it to have a standard operational procedure in situations such as this and an immediate cover up of the crime which included the usual statement that the men engaged the police in a hostile manner, acted in a menacing manner, or suspiciously? To date, despite the talk of a report being prepared there has been no official apology for the wrong that has been committed here. In fact there is every indication that positions are hardening.

Only last year the Guyana Police Force proudly announced that it had recruited the professional services of Scotland Yard's finest to assist in the training and reorientation of front line police ranks. It is known that one of the areas in which extensive training was said to be carried out was in that of the carriage and use of firearms. A component of a manual adopted by the Guyana Police Force on the investigation of police shootings reads as follows:

"An internal investigation team will be called out to deal with the incident. This team is part of the Directorate of Professional Standards that has responsibility for investigating complaints and allegations of police corruption. In highly contentious cases, particularly where death occurs, a request will be made for another police force to investigate under the command of a senior officer".

Yohance Douglas a fellow old student of St Joseph's High and at whose graduation I gave the feature address has not died in vain. Hopefully his death and the cries of his mother and all Guyanese will resonate and reverberate throughout the region and cause sister nations to do a reassessment of what they are being told about Guyana. They should ensure that Guyana the flag bearer of Caricom should stand as the bastion of democracy, stability and economic prosperity. It is time as well that the international donor agencies re-examine the conditions under which they give aid, advice and assistance to Guyana. If the Washington Consensus model for debt relief cannot be enforced in Guyana or is being excused then these agencies, their aid, advice and assistance are meaningless and unwanted here.

It is time that the killings, kidnappings and brutality must stop. To paraphrase the German Protestant churchman Martin Niemoeller:

"In Guyana they came first for the criminals and I didn't speak up because I was not a criminal;

Then they came for the businessmen and women, and I didn't speak up because I was not a businessman;

Then they came for the ordinary workers the teachers, nurses, vendors and taxi drivers, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't any of these;

Then they came for the students and little children and I didn't speak up because I was neither;

Then they came for me and by that time there was no one left to speak up".

We have got to speak up against the violence unreservedly and indiscriminately. We must cling to the last hope, which is our young people. This poignant fact was brought home to us as we heard the students chanting 'No youth, No Guyana". How painfully true but why should they have to be telling us this. It used to be that we told them that they were important and priceless, that they had to study hard, be disciplined, respect their elders, and be morally upright, now the roles are reversed. This is the irony of fate that Yohance's uncle spoke of as he eulogized the life and memory of his dear nephew. Yohance Douglas we're told died saying to his mother "Mum I love you and I am sorry". These words must stir every heart and conscience into a last charge against eternal damnation. After all, the Caricom Charter of Civil Society of which Guyana is a signatory tells us that "The States shall respect the fundamental human rights and freedoms of the individual without distinction as to age, colour, creed, disability ethnicity, gender, language, place of birth or origin, political opinion, race, religion or social class but subject to the rights and freedoms of others and for the public interest". If the state is not prepared to protect and guarantee these rights then we citizens must.