The Guyana Police Force’s Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) on Friday arrested Ms. Tamieka Clark, attorney-at-law, and kept her in custody for allegedly advising her client, who was being questioned by the police, to remain silent. The right to remain silent is fundamental in any jurisprudence that follows common-law principles. It is right protected in the Constitution of Guyana. The enjoyment of this right for Clarke’s client was apparently vexatious to the police. The Opposition, A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) in a blistering statement, addressing the issue, not only flayed the police for violating attorney/client privilege but also for continuing “to abuse the rights of the Guyanese people.”
In the matter Clarke, now released, was represented by attorney-at-law Nigel Hughes.
The Opposition’s statement follows:
OPPOSITION CONDEMNS GUYANA POLICE FORCE UNLAWFUL ARREST OF MS. TAMIEKA CLARKE
The opposition wishes to condemn the unlawful arrest of Ms. Tamieka Clarke, an Attorney at Law. The arrest of Ms. Clarke should be condemned by all Guyanese since it is a violation of the constitutional right of the Attorney to advise her client to not give or sign a statement. The fact that she was told prior to her arrest that she will be arrested if she does not allow her client to give a signed statement is a clear indication that the Guyana Police Force’s Special Organised Crimes Unit (SOCU) intended to violate her constitutional right. If this can be done to a lawyer, imagine what happens to ordinary citizens without knowledge of the law.
This violation must not be seen as an isolated event. It is part of a process of the politicization of the police force and as a consequence, the violation of the rule of law. The violation of the rule of law has become a norm in the Guyanese society. The fact that the police have been continuously violating citizens’ human rights without facing any legal consequences has emboldened them to the point where they now believe that they can violate the rights of lawyers who are probably the last bastion of protection of ordinary citizens.
It must be recalled that the Guyana Police Force continues to abuse the rights of the Guyanese people. Daily innocent citizens are incarcerated for seventy-two (72) hours when there is no legal basis for their arrest and incarceration. The abuse of authority by the Guyana Police Force with the support of the government makes the Attorney General’s condemnation of the violation of Ms. Clarke’s rights a farce. The government has been complicit in the police force’s violation of the human rights of many Guyanese.
The government itself has been using the Guyana Police Force to arrest and incarcerate citizens without any evidence of a crime being committed. The government must take full responsibility for the actions of the Guyana Police Force since it is the government who has created the environment for the violation of the rights of citizens and the Rule of Law.
It should be instructive to all that the Guyana Police Force has access to the tapes containing allegations of bribery and corruption leveled against Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo in the Vice News documentary and refuse to act in keeping with the law to bring Mr. Jagdeo to justice. That the Guyana Police Force has been prevented from investigating Mr. Jagdeo is indicative of political control of the Guyana Police Force. It is this type of politicization of the police that makes them believe that they can violate the rights of Guyanese.
In the light of the foregoing the APNU+AFC calls on the government to ensure a proper investigation is done into the arrest of Ms. Clarke and all those found culpable should face the full force of the law, which should include dismissal. Failure to discipline the police at SOCU and their superiors that are involved will continue to send the ominous signal that the government has no interest in the Rule of Law.
The APNU+AFC wishes to express solidarity with Ms. Tamieka Clarke and her client and expresses the view that no other lawyer should face this indignity and disrespect. It should also be a signal to the wider society that democracy is being further eroded daily in Guyana.
