Georgetown: President David Granger is holding to a promise made while he was Opposition Leader to probe the extrajudicial killings that occurred in Guyana during the period 2000 to 2008.
According to the Head of State, such an inquiry is still on the table. In fact, he noted that the information required to conduct the probes are being compiled. “The information is still being compiled; as you know, we’ve taken actions to ensure that inquests are conducted,” he stated during the weekly programme The Public Interest, which was aired on Friday.
Granger noted that he cannot fathom what prevented the previous administration from taking such steps, especially since one of its Cabinet members, former Agriculture Minister Satyadeo Sawh, was killed in the same manner.
“Even in the case of the Minister of Agriculture who was assassinated, a sitting member of Cabinet, and there is no investigations, no inquest, no magistrate’s inquest wasn’t conducted. Members of the (Sawh) family have spoken to me face to face and asked for investigations to be done and we are proceeding in that way,” the President asserted.
Sawh, his sister Phulmattie Persaud, his brother Rajpat Sawh and security guard Curtis Robinson, were gunned down on April 22, 2008 at the former Minister’s La Bonne Intention, East Coast Demerara, home.
As Opposition Leader and even after his appointment into the presidency, Granger has called for a Commission of Inquiry into extrajudicial killings in Guyana.
In August 2015, while addressing a forum on the State of African-Guyanese at the Critchlow Labour College, President Granger said: “I will ensure that all those who were killed have their deaths investigated.”
He also reiterated his intention to see a motion passed in the National Assembly for the appointment of a Commission of Inquiry which will probe a large number of killings during the period 2000 to 2008.
Granger had first drafted the motion in 2012 while he was Opposition Leader. It seeks to investigate, among others, the killing of Sawh and the massacres at Lusignan, Bartica and Lindo Creek.
In efforts to take a step closer to those killings, government wanted to ensure that there is an efficient and effective Coroner Department in place to investigate the crimes of that period. In this vain, government used its one seat majority in the National Assembly back in January this year to pass the Coroner’s Amendment Bill, which will see, among other things, a minimum of four full-time coroners in Demerara, three in Berbice and two in Essequibo.
The Coalition has contended that during the ‘Phantom Squad’ era and prison escapee-led crime spree, hundreds of Guyanese lives were lost, including many police officers. Some 31 ranks including Superintendent Leon Fraser were killed in the line of duty during the period proposed for probing.
The notorious ‘Phantom Squad’ is said to be led by self-confessed druglord Shaheed Roger Khan, who is currently serving a 15-year sentence in the United States after he pleaded guilty to arms trafficking, drug trafficking, conspiracy and witness tampering.
Khan had made claims of working to curb an out-of-control crime situation during that period by using extrajudicial methods of execution.
In October last year, US Ambassador Perry Holloway had told local reporters, when asked, that there is a possibility for the Guyana Government to access Khan’s testimony in the US Courts. He noted that there is a process to follow but one which has high requirements. Nevertheless, the US diplomat said that his country would cooperate if the necessary procedures are followed.
“If the rules and regulations of the agreement are done with Guyana, or we have signed up under the UN or OAS to allow for such a thing, we would be sure to be disposed to cooperating within the framework of the rule of law,” the US Ambassador had stated.
In response, President Granger disclosed back in March that there are plans to probe extrajudicial killings and noted that if there are connections to the convicted drug baron, then the Guyana Government will seek to engage him.
“Wherever those leads take us, we will follow… We need to have a lawful and orderly society and whoever is accused of committing murders will have to be punished… I’m not accusing anybody but where ever those leads take us, we will follow to make sure justice is done and Guyanese can live in a country where they can be assured of being safe,” the Head of State had remarked.
On the other hand, even as the Coalition is adamant about probing the killings during the 2000 to 2008 era, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Opposition had raised concerns, noting that government should launch investigations dating back to the 1970s and not only the 2000s.
In fact, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo had accused the coalition of being selective in its calls for investigations and suggested instead that the probe be done into all the murders and all the missing weaponry: “We should have an inquiry into everything, maybe the mother of all inquiries.”
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