Over the years both sides of the political divide have been accusing the other of seeking to create a police state. A police state, as many know it, is one in which the police are answerable to no one for any indiscretion.
The police are a law unto themselves. For nearly two decades Guyana lived in a police state in which people were killed at the drop of a hat. Criminals were shot on sight. They never stood a chance and the society merely looked on. This was something that some people justified. They claimed that the criminals were killing people out of hand and that there was a need for equally radical action. So, criminals when cornered knew that they were never going to face trial. This was the period when the most policemen were killed in the history of the Guyana Police Force.
Those were dark days in Guyana. When the madness subsided people were relieved. Slowly they began to go about their businesses. And nightclubs made a return. Today, it seems as if the madness is slowly returning. There have been police killings once more. Orin Bascom was shot and killed in his bed on the Essequibo Coast. Initially the police claimed that he reached for a gun. But investigators found no gun.Then there was the killing of Quindon Bacchus of Nabaclis, East Coast Demerara. The initial police report was that Bacchus had shot at the ranks. Investigations proved otherwise. There was the perfunctory criminal charge in both cases, but nothing has been heard of the matter since.
Now the head of the Police Complaints Authority, retired Justice William Ramlall is accusing the police of covering up criminal investigations, flagrantly violating the law, and generally, doing as they please. The worst thing is that the lawlessness goes to the top of the police force, right up to the Acting Police Commissioner, according to retired Justice William Ramlall. In his 2022 report on the Guyana Police Force, the retired judge said that the acting Police Commissioner flagrantly violates the Police Act and the Constitution. A few days ago, in the face of the report, President Irfaan Ali decided to extend the acting Commissioner’s tenure at the helm of the force.
Justice Ramlall in his report wants the President to put a stop to the acting Commissioner’s foray into violating the law. He said that the police killed four civilians, conducted their own investigations without the Police Complaints Authority in violation of the Police Complaints Authority Act, and forwarded these to the Director of Public Prosecutions. The PCA Act stipulates that the Police Complaints Authority investigates all reports or information pertaining to the unlawful killing of another person. The police ignored this Act.
Before she can order prosecution, the DPP must consider the report of the Police Complaints Authority. Justice Ramlall then said that from some 300 interviews with police ranks ranging from Senior Superintendents to rural constables, none showed any knowledge of the Force Standing orders. It also turned out that these ranks had very little knowledge of the fundamental rights of citizens. This is most worrying.
Of course, from the time the force became subservient to the politicians there were problems. The alacrity to lock up people who were suspected of not being government supporters or members, was not matched by the same alacrity to take reports from these people when the other side wronged them.
Retired Assistant Police Commissioner Paul Slowe and Member of Parliament Amanza Walton-Desir reported incidents to the police. They got no response, not even Ms. Walton-Desir who reported an incident of cyber bullying. Many others spoke of a similar malaise on the part of the police when it came to accepting their reports.
A man brushed a car belonging to a woman in Alberttown. He opted to accept responsibility, but the woman took away his car keys. The vehicle was left on the streets for a week although the man reported the larceny of his keys to the Alberttown Police Station—And the woman is a police rank.
The police refused to charge the woman. Meanwhile the man’s car was vandalized. He is still to get the police to initiate action. He said that he reported to the Commander and got nowhere. The only person he could not reach was the Assistant Police Commissioner.
The haste to issue wanted bulletins for people like Tacuma Ogunseye, whom they never contacted, for an incident that reportedly occurred some three weeks prior, was a case in point. Ogunseye had made a statement that the ruling party found offensive. The man surrendered himself to the police, was promptly arrested and locked up. He was taken to the court in shackles after three days and released on bail. He is still to see the end of his trial. No such treatment has been meted out to any supporter of the government.
And then we have this state secret. Dr Roger Forbes Luncheon died very early this month. He was my classmate. At weekends and during the holidays he would join with friends and come to my home at Beterverwagting for country life. His relatives lived close by so his twin sister, Joan, would sometimes be in the village. He was my friend and like three or four others over the past few weeks, he has gone to the Great Beyond. On Tuesday I sat through a Zoom funeral for one of them, BOF Holder.
Seigbert Granger’s funeral was earlier this month. Then on Monday, another schoolmate, Gordon Moore, died. One more alumnus, Olato Sam, was shot and killed a few days ago. He will be buried on Friday. But there is no word of a funeral for Roger. Has he been cremated or buried already? Secretly? Apart from the messages of condolence at the time of his death there has been no word. And he was a very prominent member of the government and of the ruling party. At least tell the nation what happened to Roger Forbes Luncheon’s body.
Afterword: Hours after this broadcast there came the announcement of events for Dr Roger Luncheon’s funeral. At last, we know that there will be a funeral service next Tuesday.
