PNCR North America Group bemoans extrajudicial killing of Afro Guyanese- said the time to save Guyana is now

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Responding to recent shooting of Quindon Bacchus, in what the Force allegedly said was a sting operation for illegal guns, the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) North America Region (NAR), in a statement, said Bacchus’ death followed in a long line of extrajudicial killings. The organisation stated, “today, Afro Guyanese feel powerless because there seems to be NO justice” and is calling on every Guyanese, regardless of skin colour, race or creed to speak out against the injustices in Guyana. They said “We must call on all, regardless of political persuasion, to recognise the time to save Guyana is now.”

Extrajudicial killings
NAR expressed concern that the extrajudicial killings that haunted Guyana between 1992 and 2015, in what is called the ‘dark days,’ have returned. It said those days remind us of the missing 1,400 young men whose only crime was the colour of their skin.

The organisation said since the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) returned to government memory of those ‘dark days’ and the accompanying fear of violent deaths at the hands of members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) have returned. NAR referenced the extra judicial killing of 29-year-old Orin Boston, of Dartmouth Essequibo Coast. He was allegedly shot and killed in his bed during a police raid on September 15, 2021.

23-year-old Bacchus was allegedly shot and killed on June 10, 2022. The Post Mortem Report, released by the GPF, revealed Bacchus died from multiple gunshot wounds. He was shot six times- five times to the back and once to the chest. The North America affiliated body accused the GPF of mindless killings, leaving parents, relatives, and friends in agony.

“So, it’s understandable, when the cry for justice took hold among the citizens of Golden Grove and other villages along the East Coast of Demerara. To ignore this cry for justice is to pretend that you are a horse with blinders, being ridden by a Jockey whose sole purpose is to win at all costs regardless of the rules,” said NAR

The organsiation said the governing of the “PPP/C is not only marked by extrajudicial killings, but injustice, discrimination, and total disregard for the rights of Afro Guyanese and others whose heritage is not like those in its strongholds. The very action by the ‘installed’ President of Guyana on June 28, 2022, as he rushed to Mon Repos to listen to villagers’ complaints sent a message that he is only the President of one ethnic group in Guyana.”

NAR was moved to question whether the lives of Afro Guyanese are not valuable, further saying that “We can imagine the pain their families continue to experience as they re-live the date when their loved ones were brutally murdered. The injustices which the Afro Guyanese face daily cannot be ignored and must not be ignored.”

Wealth distribution
Turning attention to wealth distribution in Guyana, NAR stated that “The only ones benefitting from the wealth of Guyana are those who supposedly voted for the PPP/C or their cronies. Bob Marley in his song, “War” said it best, ‘until the philosophy that holds one race superior than another…until there are no longer first class and second-class citizens of any nation. Until the color of a man’s skin is of no more significant than the colour of his eyes…'” Guyana will have problems.

The organisation expressed its profound concern about the continued marginalisation of Afro Guyanese and discrimination against their communities while others benefit from the wealth of the country. “The PPP/C must practice good governance, it must stop telling Guyanese to trust the process when almost two years after the brutal killing of the Henry boys, the country and the family waits for justice. This systemic racism cannot create a one Guyana as [President] Ali and his cronies keep telling the nation.”