propaganda press! freedom in Guyana

by Janet Jagan Whatever has been said or written about Roger Khan should not overlook one important factor – his rights as a citizen of the country in which he was born - Guyana. He has yet to be convicted of any of the crimes he is alleged to have committed in Guyana, Suriname or the USA, and even if he were, he still has certain basic rights that any citizen of Guyana should enjoy.

Khan voluntarily entered Suriname illegally and was subsequently arrested and held in prison without bail. The public was informed that he was involved in serious crimes concerning drug trafficking and a conspiracy to murder prominent Surinamese nationals. So grave were the crimes he was alleged to have committed that the Guyana government let it be known that these were far more serious than those charges awaiting him in Guyana and thus the Guyana government would not ask for his deportation, but wait for these serious charges to be heard in a Suriname court.

In the meantime, there were announcements made from Suriname that the USA was seeking Khan’s extradition to the USA to face drug charges there. However, it was clearly implied that first things come first, and that the two very, very serious charges by Suriname would have to be dealt with, to satisfy the justice system on the alleged breaches of the laws of Suriname by Khan.

Then, swifter than a hummingbird gathering nectar, Khan was grabbed – or the word might be kidnapped – in the wee hours of the morning and thrown on a Suriname Airways plane bound for Trinidad – with the excuse that the plane would then go to Guyana! A genuine touch of humour here, although the Surinamese are not particularly known for being funny.

The well arranged scenario, prepared mainly by the US authorities who are masters of the trick called “rendition”, then proceeded in its controlled manner. All pre-arranged, when the Suriname airplane landed at Piarco, an immigration officer declared that Khan did not have proper papers to enter Trinidad. A US official appeared with legal papers to take over Khan and a convenient special airplane was on the tarmac to fly him to the USA.

As Rickey Singh wrote in his Sunday Chronicle column – “Uncle Sam Kidnapped Khan”. Is there anyone who could deny the truth of this charge?

There are three countries guilty of grave offences, the USA, Trinidad and Suriname. The Surinamese government had really only one choice, outside of stooging to the USA, and that was to inform police at Springlands that they were deporting Khan back from where he came illegally as they had no charges against him. The local police would have then received Khan and would have taken him under extreme security, to Georgetown where he would have been charged and taken before the courts. The USA then could have presented the government with the information needed to extradite him, which would probably have been decided in the courts.

Trinidad, guilty of grave misconduct, upon receiving Khan who would have had no legal documents to land in the island, should have held him and informed Guyana police who then would have sent officers to Trinidad to escort him back to Guyana.

Instead, he was hijacked, whether drugged or not – we do not know for certain – and thrown into a conveniently located special airplane at the Trinidad Airport and flown to the USA.

The USA, which seems impervious to criticism, continues to do as it pleases, particularly in the sphere of prisoners. The European Union has investigated the whole spectre of charges of “rendition” in Europe, wherein the USA has abducted persons it believes are terrorists, put them on airplanes and sent them to countries where torture is permitted. Under those conditions, the prisoners are interrogated ruthlessly. This “rendition” has been strongly condemned by the European Union.

Just recently the USA Supreme Court handed down a ruling on President Bush’s decision to permit military courts to hear the prisoners of Guantanamo Bay. The Supreme Court ruled that he could not do this as it was against the rights of all prisoners to go before a civil court.

The USA’s record in these matters, and now the conspiracy – yes conspiracy – to kidnap Guyana-born Roger Khan and use rendition tactics to get him into their custody not only smells – but it stinks!