There is little doubt that the nation breathed a collective sigh of relief when, first, a joint Police and Guyana Defence Force “cordon and search” exercise, on June 2nd, encountered 8 crime gang members, all of them eventually killed in a gun battle and then, 3 days later, on June 5th at Prashad Nagar, 3 other gang members who died after a 2 hour-long battle.
At Friendship, the security forces were on patrol when fired upon, resulting in the ensuing firefight. Romel Sylvester Reman, long on the list of wanted violent criminals and 6 others of the gang lost their lives in a battle with the security forces which they invited. The familiar arsenal of high-powered assault rifles, shotguns and ammunition were found in possession of the dead criminals and, significantly, night vision binoculars.
At Prashad Nagar, it appeared that the security forces were acting on intelligence when they surrounded a house in which prison escapee Shawn Brown and 2 other men were eventually killed and, from which Troy Dick, the remaining escapee not yet apprehended, may have escaped.
Again, the gangsters were the first to open fire on the lawmen and they too paid the price with their lives.
But, already, even before the Prashad Nagar confrontation took place, the Guyana Human Rights Association were condemning the Friendship operation, accusing the Police and Army of shooting before arresting and questioning whether, in fact, the security forces had been fired upon.
Of course, when the GHRA jumps to conclusions of this kind and issues a statement, it goes around the world and organizations like Amnesty International, who rely on the GHRA for their information, accuse the government of violating human rights.
Troy Dick
Romel Reman
The GHRA, who after all are a self appointed body of quite ordinary citizens like you and me who have no special qualifications to pronounce as they do, have not so far indicated any recognition of the enormity of the crime wave which has overtaken our country within the last 15 months nor the danger it presents to the entire well-being of the country. Theirs is always the “knee jerk” reaction, ready to play to the “human rights” gallery abroad.
Organizations like the GHRA are important, in that it is their legitimate objective to hold government and officialdom up to the highest standards of internationally accepted human rights behaviour and that’s always a good thing.
But, the extraordinary escalation and entrenchment of organized crime which our government and security forces have to contend with simply does not lend itself to the ordinary and everyday response normally imposed by the constitutional requirements for maintaining the rule of law. It is either that the GHRA fail to understand or that they refuse to put the situation in perspective before rushing to judgment.
It is a situation not peculiar to Guyana. In various degrees the entire Central America and the Caribbean are under siege from organized crime of no ordinary magnitude.
“Our country is literally under siege! What was at first a growing cause of concern has now developed into nothing short of a full-blown epidemic which has left the nation reeling. From the kidnapping of minors, to daring armed robberies of places of business, to drive-by shootings ... we are beginning to see it all”.
No, those are not my words and I am not describing Guyana. I quote them from the Trinidad & Tobago Mirror newspaper of June 13th.
What has happened, is that the Columbian narcotics trade managed in part by deportees, thoroughly hardened and seasoned veterans of organized crime exported from the US, has brought to our countries a level of criminal enterprise for which we were never prepared. We either defeat them at their game or they take command of our country. There is no halfway choice. In these circumstances, the constitutional niceties do not readily apply.
These are criminals, as we see when they are captured or killed using the most sophisticated assault weapons that money can buy. Let’s have a good look.
The Kalashnikov assault rifle, the most prolific of its kind in the world, fires 600 rounds per minute with an effective range of 400 meters. This gun can carry a grenade launcher.
Here’s another. The Italian Beretta is probably the most sophisticated submachine gun on the market. It fires 550 rounds per minute. It’s deadly accurate. It can kill you at a range of 200 meters.
These are the weapons of choice readily in the possession of the crime gangs our security forces must confront. We have seen that these gangs use night vision binoculars which give almost perfect nighttime vision and can cost as much as US$4,000.
After the events of June 2nd and 5th the President warned that “we need to remain focused, we shouldn’t get to euphoric that we are over this hump... we must not become complacent”. He is, of course, right. We are in for a long and painful war against organized crime.
In a subsequent press release in their defence, the GHRA acknowledges that if normal policing is inadequate to meet the circumstances and the military are to be involved, there is need for “a very clear legal framework”. With that, I agree.