propaganda press! freedom in Guyana

It is almost three weeks since Head of the Presidential Secretariat and Secretary of the Defence Board, Dr. Roger Luncheon, informed the Guyanese public that the report on alleged torture committed on citizens by the Disciplined Forces was completed. The Guyanese people today are still awaiting those most crucial findings. So the question remains — where is the report?On the 16th April 2008, more than a week after Luncheon’s statement to the press, the President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of Guyana, President Bharrat Jagdeo, stated that, “The Defence Board is yet to examine the report from the army on its probe of torture allegations levelled against it.” As a Guyanese, I find the comments by the President quite frightening, confusing, and inexplicably unfortunate. The comments legitimately raise a series of questions, particularly on the President’s perception of torture and his seeming lack of urgency to deal with these most dehumanizing claims.The fact that the investigation was not conducted by an independent body already creates obvious and justified suspicions in the mind of any civic-minded person and further doubts the impartiality of its findings.The first question the President’s comment raises is whether he considers these allegations of torture seriously?My own take on this is that the President and Government seem to be sending signals which suggest that Guyanese may not see the protection of their basic human rights as a top priority, and that the Government itself might not be too concerned about such allegations.One only has to go back to the Minister of Home Affairs’, Clement Rohee’s, comment on this matter.Some months ago, just after the torture claims, the Minister, when asked about the claims, made comments to the effect that Guyanese are more interested in bread and butter and are not bothered about any allegations of torture.While Rohee might be right to infer that the serious economic constraints that the Government has put the people under have intensified their need for basic survival, his comments appear to be one of exploiting this real situation to argue that fundamental rights can be eroded as people fight to satisfy their most basic need — to feed themselves.So the President’s take on the subject and the delay of the torture report reflects this dismissive thinking on the subject, a reality that is inconsistent with values and principles of a modern or emerging democracy, a concept the Government touts each time it enunciates its political agenda.It is unthinkable that, with the chaotic and unstable state of affairs and with the crime and security situation in the country, the President and Government would be dragging their feet on the release of this report.Why is it that, several months after the army authorities handed over the report to the requisite executive authority, the Defence Board either fails to meet, is reluctant to meet, or is not interested in meeting in order to deal with this matter expeditiously?One simple reason might be that the Government is indicating that there is no need to treat the matter as urgent, since torture should be accepted as a form of interrogation by Guyanese.One wonders whether the harsh 16 percent VAT and other economically-designed challenges Guyanese are made to face have more latent or hidden negative objectives. As outlandish and far-fetched as this may seem, the actions of the “political bosses” wielding executive power have done more than enough to arouse such far-fetched thinking, which may not be totally far-fetched at all.I hope the new situation with Sharma and the ongoing protest action will not be used as an excuse to say the Defence Board could not meet.Yes, by now every Guyanese can predict the actions of this Government, they defend their most despicable and ruthless actions, in spite of how inexcusable they are. They are too proud and powerful to apologise to Guyanese, whom they claim elected them thrice, consecutively, to govern them.The delay of this report must be a growing nightmare for all the alleged victims and their families, who might just be worrying about their own safety, now more than ever before, as the trends of a re-emerging death squad are real.So when will the report be laid in the public domain? Or will it never see the light of day?I call on the President to present this report in the public domain before it is too late. To further delay to make it available might be more torturous to the Guyanese people.Or is the public to assume that the President and Cabinet have to edit the report before its final release? If this is so, the President will have to indicate where he gets the legitimate or moral authority to do so.Remember, the report already lacks moral turpitude, owing to the President’s reluctance to have it constituted in accordance with principles of “just impartiality”.Lurlene Nestor