Human rights body says its concerns are only for victims
Stabroek News
June 12, 2003
The Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) says its concerns are only for victims.
It was responding to recent criticisms of its press release questioning the account given by the security forces of how six men had died on June 4 in Friendship during a shoot-out with the police/army.
The GHRA in a press release described as “most irresponsible” criticism, the allegation that the association is “unconcerned about the rights of victims and only interested in the rights of criminals.”
According to the GHRA, a brief examination of what are victims’ rights will show this to be a completely false allegation.
The body noted that victims’ rights as set out by the United Nations include:
The right to access justice through procedures which are expeditious, fair, inexpensive and accessible.
Right to information concerning progress and disposition of their cases.
Providing proper assistance to victims throughout the legal process.
The right to privacy and to ensure the safety of families and witnesses from retaliation and intimidation.
The right of restitution of property by offenders.
Restoration of the environment and community property where appropriate.
The right to compensation from the offender, or other sources.
The right to compensation from the state for victims of serious bodily injury and for the dependents of persons who have died or been incapacitated as a result of victimisation.
Establishing national funds for compensation of victims should be encouraged.
The GHRA is contending that since Guyanese victims of crime “enjoy none of these rights at all, the onus is on government representatives to explain exactly what they mean when they defend their actions by reference to victims’ rights.”
The release said that in reality all the work of the GHRA concerns victims’ rights. And the body’s “objection to extra-judicial killing rests on the fact it violates all of the rights of victims according to the list set out by the United Nations, as well as rights that pertain to any citizen under the constitution, in particular the right to a fair trial.”
The GHRA further charged that the state is currently coarsening the concept of victims’ rights. It argued that by equating those rights with the elimination of criminals in general, the range of rights referred to are reduced to an assumption of victims being satisfied by vengeance. “Victims’ rights refer to justice concerning specific crimes, specific perpetrators and specific procedures,” the GHRA asserted.
The GHRA said it is also concerned about the restoration of the confidence of the community in the police force.
The central issue, the release said, involves respect for the rights of citizens. According to the GHRA, failure to respect rights was a major factor leading to the breakdown in community relations with the police on the East Coast Demerara.
The release remarked that it is “misplaced, unhelpful and irresponsible” to convey the impression that observing human rights diminishes the efficiency of policing operations.
The GHRA also dealt with the question of how the police might be expected to act in a situation of well-armed criminals in significant numbers who are disposed to kill for little or no reason. The association declared that it not challenging the fact that a situation exists on the East Coast that is beyond the capacity of normal policing methods to control. “Our concern is with the legal pretence that the situation is normal while employing practices only justifiable in abnormal circumstances.”
If normal policing is inadequate, the release said, the first step is to set in place the proper legal framework that will allow other forces, such as the Guyana Defence Force to exercise emergency powers of a restricted nature to support the police.
The body said further that while the general public feels welcome relief at the reduction in crime, in its view Operation Saline Solution has features which has set bad precedents.
“Involvement of the military in civilian operations such as crime-fighting, without a very clear legal framework is a particularly bad precedent.”
And responding to the charge that it had been silent in the face of the crime upsurge, the GHRA noted it had issued 15 press releases since February 2002 on the crime, violence and East Coast upheaval, including two on the “dirty war” on policemen and three on Indo-Guyanese being the overwhelming targets of criminal violence.
