There is no question that whenever the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) is in office they are a constant threat to peace, stability and racial harmony. Drug trafficking has returned in noticeable measures and so too have extra judicial killings. The killing of Orin Boston, two Wednesdays ago, at the hands of rogue police officer(s) from the SWAT team, is a painful reminder of this. We the people cannot allow this death, as others, to be statistics- a blip in our history.
We are talking about the transgressions of the right to life and justice, principles the Constitution of Guyana holds sacred and are guaranteed to each one of us. We can no longer, not because we have not personally lost a loved one, say this young man’s murder is not my problem. It is our collective problem. For when the coercive arm of the state, that is supposed to be providing Service and Protection to the citizens as per law, is actively participating in not ensuring our safety and security then we are living in troubling times.
Boston’s death, coming so soon after the change in government when Guyana was growing disaccustomed to crimes of such nature, suggests that it is time for us as a people to recognise that there is a distinct difference between the PPP/C in government and as opposition. As Guyanese relive the horror of this death, recalling the PPP/C state associated killings of countless black men and the death squads, President Irfaan Ali is actively denying that under the PPP/C there have been extrajudicial killings.
Our media once again failed in bringing truth to the society by not reminding Ali at that press conference of the gruesome facts, reported even in international reports such as the United States country Report on Guyana. Not only is the PPP/C not being held to account, but society is losing the opportunity to contribute to a better Guyana by having the established facts brought to the public’s attention.
Guyana is a nation of laws, and we should push back against those who donned the uniform of the state, and carry the weapons of the state, acting in barbaric and lawless manner. The death of Boston must stir within us the passion and determination we carry in our bowels, inherited from our forebears, for justice and fair play. We hold our future in our hands. Should we send any signal of tolerance to those who trample or desire to trample on our Rights and the Rule of Law, then we become accomplices of the lawlessness and risk endangering our lives and those of our loved ones.
The PPP/C must not only patronise Guyanese in lending financial support for funerals of those murdered by the state. If they truly care and are concerned, then they must do everything within their power to stop these murders. There can be no peace in this land of ours unless every single citizen can feel safe and secure under the state, regardless of which party/group is in office. Guyanese must be assured of their fundamental human rights, dignity and equality as enshrined in the Constitution of Guyana, international laws, and conventions.
We are not a pre-civilised nation or uncivilised people. And because we are not, we must as a collective be guided by laws dictating acceptable human interaction and encounters to hold rogue elements in the Guyana Police Force accountable. The responsibility for legal justice in a civilised society does not fall in the hands of these rogues. Responsibility falls in the hands of various arms of the state, and no resource must be spared by the state to bring legal justice to Boston and his family.
Guyanese are tired of the senseless killings, hate, and division; though some are not tired to fight back against these injustices. And even as we seek legal justice to assuage the community and all Guyanese, who in some form or fashion stand indicted, and feel the pain of this youngster’s death and the resultant consequences, we must not ignore the importance of socioeconomic and political justice as a means of not only forging peace, but making all Guyanese recognise that where one is deprived, marginalised, demonised, de-humanised, victimised, is subjected to wanton killing and justice is not served, all are denied.
