Guyana Opposition unveils crime dossier in call for international probe

The document points to evidence coming out of the US trial of Robert Simels, the former attorney of convicted drug lord Roger Khan, which it said revealed several connections between the government, politicians of the ruling party and organised crime. (Fi

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, November 18, 2009 – A group of Guyana’s opposition parties have identified 449 alleged extra-judicial and other killings over the past 16 years in a dossier that it has presented as grounds for an international inquiry into human rights violations in the country.

The main opposition People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), the Alliance for Change (AFC), the Guyana Action Party (GAP), the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) and the National Front Alliance (NFA) have compiled the 157-page document which also points to other human rights abuses they claim were carried out with the support of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) government, including the recent torture of a teenager whose genitals were burnt while in police custody.

The dossier was presented to diplomats and representatives of several local groups. AFC leader Raphael Trotman also revealed that the dossier had been handed over to the US State Department

The document points to evidence coming out of the US trial of Robert Simels, the former attorney of convicted drug lord Roger Khan, which it said revealed several connections between the government, politicians of the ruling party and organised crime.

“It is our contention that these events did not just happen and are best understood in the context of other criminal acts and human rights abuses perpetrated against citizens of Guyana,” the group notes in the dossier.

The Bharrat Jagdeo administration has refused calls for an investigation into the killing.

But Deputy British High Commissioner to Guyana, Simon Bond said that the dossier would not be dismissed.

“Obviously there are international standards which my country and other countries are very committed to and they are relevant in areas such as human rights and extra-judicial killings and I think we have to look at the contents and also see what further action is being taken here. It’s not just a question for the international community, it’s a question for Guyana and the institutions here and the people here,” he said after receiving a copy of the document.