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… Ramjattan says police must leave no stone unturned to solve murders of WCB teens
If the Guyana Police Force (GPF) does not solve the murders of Joel and Isaiah Henry, and Haresh Singh, they will be sending a message to criminal minds across Guyana that the evasion of consequence for such acts is very possible and, to law-abiding citizens, that the GPF itself is unreliable.
This is the evaluation of former Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan who told the Village Voice Guyana, in a recent interview, that he has been observing keenly the developments in the West Coast Berbice (WCB) murders and believe that the best of effort isn’t being put out.
Ramjattan is concerned about reports that the strange trousers found on the body of Joel Henry were not sent by the police for DNA testing and that the State has made no effort to accept the offer of assistance from the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF), a world-renowned expert team.
Speaking to the effect such unsolved crimes could have on the Guyanese society, Ramjattan said:
“It will be an incentive for those others who may think that they could murder and will not get caught. That is the serious thing about not uncovering the reasons and the suspects behind these offences. When you go and you do the investigation and you do it thoroughly and you catch the persons you automatically create a deterrent effect upon anybody – racist people, psychotic people, the criminal types. Even they would feel that ‘boy I gon geh ketch’. So, the impact, societally, of not catching these criminals means that somebody else is going to try it on two other black boys or two other East Indian boys because [of the mentality that] ‘the police nah gon ketch me’.”
Both the GPF and the Regional Security System (RSS) – hired by the Government—have turned up empty-handed more than one month after the killings. The GPF has offered a $3M reward for anyone with information.
On the other hand, the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) and the legal team representing the Henry boys’ families have approached the Ministries of Home Affairs and Human Services seeking their joint financial support to bring a team of Forensic Pathologists from Argentina to assist. However, their request has been ignored.
The GHRA has stated that it would only cost the State USD$40,000 to hire the team and it has even proposed that the Government to pay only 50 per cent of the cost and the other 50 per cent would be fund-raised publicly, coordinated by the GHRA and the Hughes, Fields and Stoby law firm which is representing the interest of the families.
“In demonstrating its willingness to go the extra mile, even if at the end of the day the murders remain unresolved, the Government would be credited with having done everything technically possible. The political venom would have been extracted from the situation to the Government’s credit,” the GHRA stated. However, not one word on the offer has come from the Government.
“$USD $40,000 which is about GYD $7 million, what is that to get the forensic people?” Ramjattan questioned. “The earlier you get these experts to come in, as every police will tell you, the better,” the former Minister who is also an attorney declared.
Apart from the GPF receiving assistance, the former Public Security Minister said that he is displeased with the manner in which the Police has handled the cases noting that he is well aware of the Force’s ability and training.
“Knowing the capacity of the Police Force, I am very surprised that they did not take the trousers that was obviously a suspicious item…I find that, indeed, with all the training that these fellas have, they ought to know better,” he said.
The Former Minister said, “The Police Force, too, will not be regarded as professional when it allows these things to happen. It is going to get a lot of blame. You have to try and catch these criminals and do everything in your ability to do so…you have to have detectives that want to see it to a necessary and a successful conclusion. I fear that all of that now might be hindered and impeded in the Police Force. I hope I’m wrong about that.”
Ramjattan said that he does not want to see Guyana return to the days of many high crimes, narcotic crimes, and human trafficking. He said that no stone must be left unturned in the solving of the murders as the right message – a message of deterrence and justice — must be sent to the Guyanese public.
Meanwhile, attempts to solicit a response from Minister of Public Security, Robeson Benn proved futile. However, Benn told the News Room on Monday that the Government prefers to solicit help from the United States of America, Britain and Canada to solve the murders.
“We have no particular preference to go outside the normal lines of engagement which we have in relation to these matters,” Benn told the News Room.
The News Room reported too that the Minister said there is satisfaction with the DNA analysis done in Guyana and abroad noting that Government will continue to rely on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in the United States of America, and authorities in the United Kingdom and Canada.
“Those are the ones we normally resort to and those are the ones we will resort to,” the Home Affairs Minister told News Room. (Lisa Hamilton)
