It continues to bother me that more than four weeks since allegations of the existence of Death Squads have surfaced in this our beloved country CARICOM, as a body, has not indicated its concern or non-concern over this grave revelation. This obvious silence by this our "regional mother" forces me to pose the following questions;
1. Does CARICOM address issues of Human Rights violations?
2. Does CARICOM agree with the President and the PPP/C government's position that Mr. Bacchus should make a formal report to the police force?
3. Is CARICOM's mandate, as it relates to Guyana, only centered on trade matters or the promotion of' integration'?
4. What is the role of CARICOM in matters of a crime and security crisis in one of its nation states?
5. When or at what stage does CARICOM pronounce on matters of political, economic or social concerns of a nation state?
6. Does CARICOM view the comments made by the U.S Ambassador, the Canadian High Commissioner, the British High Commissioner and Amnesty International as tantamount to meddling in Guyana's internal affairs?
7. What is the role of the Chairman of CARICOM?
I must confess that I like many other Guyanese thought that CARICOM would have been the first body to make a pronouncement on this issue.
I trust that my questions will be answered so that the entire Guyanese population will not only be clear of CARICOM's po-sition on this issue but it will also help citizens to be more objective in their views of CARICOM.
Yours faithfully,
Lurlene Nestor
Editor's note:
We are sending a copy of this letter to Mr. Edwin Carrington, the Secretary General of Caricom, for any comments he may wish to make.