Dear Editor,
Having ruminated, on my presentation to the civil society pre-session of Guyana`s Human Rights Universal Periodic Review, in Guyana Times, Dr. Ramsammy sought to respond in the dailies to my trashing of his ruminations. His response, in fact, was an update of his original rumination, in which he sought to reiterate his contention that my presentation in Geneva at the civil society pre-session of Guyana`s Universal Periodic Review, at which, in May, the Government has to account for its Human Rights record for the reporting period, was laced with falsities and misrepresentations (“baldface lies” according to him).
In my original response, I identified elements (facts) in my presentation that were not, and could be not, refuted. I also indicated that much of what he said was unrelated to my presentation and an attempt to distract people’s attention from the evidential points in my presentation. In effect, he engaged in his usual hysterical goebbelian propagandising. I am therefore availing my original script to the public as an attachment, for them to be the final arbiter. For ease of reading/referencing, I am also, herein, itemizing some of the main points of my presentation:
- The Hero`s Highway does not traverse the path in Arcadia were the demolished houses were located although that was given as the reason for their relocation and/or demolition. What Court decided is irrelevant to this contention.
- The Government and other entities still contend that the relocation and demolition were necessary because the houses were in the path of the road. Not so!
- The affected persons wrote to the Central Housing and Planning Authority seeking an audience before proceeding to litigation. They received no response, yet only after the Court delivered its judgment the President is making overtures to the affected persons, claiming to be a caring and responsive Government.
- Paul Slowe and Calvin Brutus both attested to the fact that the most senior officials in Government sought to have them as Chairman of the Police Service Commission and Assistant Commissioner of Police, at the time, respectively, promote, preferentially, Indo-Guyanese without merit being an essential criterion. Slowe refused to carry out the dictates. Charges were subsequently trumped up against him. The Commission was illicitly dissolved, and the discriminatory practice activated under the newly installed Commission, thus bypassing many qualified and experienced African Guyanese police officers, inter alia.
- The President and his Ministers publicly indicated that they had no intention to consult with, or refer, or defer to, locally elected representatives (local democratic councils) on local matters, as is provided for in articles 9, 12 and 71 of the Constitution. In fact they actually by-passed the elected representatives and addressed (not consult) the residents directly on local matters.
- The Guyana Elections Commission refused to conduct an evaluation of its conduct of the 2020 elections and as a consequence failed to take actions to identify and remedy chinks in the system, thus retaining a status quo that had facilitated glaring irregularities, and triggered the resultant and ongoing distrust.
The aforementioned six (6) are some of the areas on which I reported. I challenge Ramsammy and his ilk to prove them to be misrepresentations or “baldface lies” as he contended.
Yours truly,
Vincent Alexander
Chairperson
IDPADA-G
