Stabroek News reporting too much about torture by Guyana Police & Army - Edward Simon
RECENTLY much has been published about the allegations of torture by the security forces while investigating the disappearance of weapons and other acts of terror perpetrated against the citizens of Guyana.
The reporters who seem so intent on highlighting the ills in our society do not find it prudent to highlight the effects of the criminal acts on the lives of our citizens.
I wish to challenge these media houses to visit the victims of these criminal acts to see how their lives have changed as a result of the killing of a loved one. Let the people in communities speak about the trauma they collectively suffered from having seen one of their own brutalized while being held at bay by gunmen.
Let them speak to these persons, some of whom still cannot sleep at nights for fear of what will happen as the memory of what the have experienced at the hands of these criminals refuse to fade from their minds.
After the Columbine Campus shooting, the media houses in the USA collectively decided to stop highlighting the perpetrators of these types of crimes since it was believed that persons who wanted to gain notoriety committed these acts knowing that the media would give it full coverage.
Our media in Guyana need to be more responsible. Criminals follow the news too and build their reputation for their acts. The more brutal, the more they are feared and respected by their colleagues.
While I do not purport that the media should turn a blind eye to these claims, their reports should be fair and balanced.
Imagine what these criminals must be thinking when they see the pressure being placed on the law enforcement agencies during their investigations. One does not have to wonder why criminals seem to have become emboldened.
