Guyana government dismisses opposition crime dossier

President Bharrat Jagdeo on November 5th had given the GPF two weeks to complete an investigation in those allegations and yesterday the Ministry of Home Affairs announced that the probe had been completed.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, November 20, 2009 – The Guyana government has dismissed the dossier of human rights abuses compiled by the country’s opposition parties as an attempt to score political points and has even claimed that some of those persons listed as dead are actually alive.

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) earlier this week released the 157-page crime dossier as grounds for an international inquiry into human rights violations in the country.

But a statement issued yesterday evening by the Office of the President poured cold water on the claims of torture and murder carried out with state support over the past 16 years.

“It is obvious that the PNCR and their acolytes in their parliamentary opposition parties have used the publication of the dossier to advance their grand design which is to sensationalise, to confuse, and to score partisan political points using the circumstances of the dead as their primary tool,” it said.

The report listed a total of 449 alleged extra-judicial and other killings, but the government statement said that a preliminary review of the document revealed that among the listed dead are persons who are alive; others officially listed as missing; victims of criminal or terrorists gangs; law enforcement officers, police and soldiers killed in the line of duty; known wanted criminals who died in armed confrontations with the Joint Services; victims of vehicular accidents; cases currently under investigations by the Guyana Police Force (GPF); and cases subjected to judicial review.

“Furthermore, if their compilation is to be deemed appropriate and comprehensive, the omission of major cases would have to be explained,” it added.

Counter-accusations were also made in the statement. It said the PNCR was consistently fighting the government in its efforts to maintain law and order in Guyana.

But it went even further, saying that the opposition had actually offered support to criminal gangs.

“The PNCR, under successive party leaders and their like-minded co- conspirators, has openly supported the aims and objectives of those gangs, joining in the glorification of gang members and leaders in life and in death,” it said, adding that the PNCR has succeeded in “co-opting the other parliamentary political parties into their grand design” with the publication of the dossier.

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

The dossier also mentioned the alleged torture of a 14-year-old whose genitals were set on fire while in police custody last month.

President Bharrat Jagdeo on November 5th had given the GPF two weeks to complete an investigation in those allegations and yesterday the Ministry of Home Affairs announced that the probe had been completed.

It said the file was delivered to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

“The Ministry has been advised by the Director of Public Prosecution, Bibi Shalimar Hack, that the file is currently under active consideration and that the Guyana Police Force will in a few days be in receipt of her advice on the matter,” the ministry said in a statement.

“Following receipt of the advice from the DDP, the Commissioner of Police will provide the Ministry with the report and the DDP’s advice which will be made public in keeping with the President’s public commitment.”