Statement by Guyanese lawyers on torture/denial of constitutional rights

Following is the full statement released earlier today by 25 lawyers practising in Guyana:

Public Statement

31st October 2009

“No person shall be subject to torture or to inhuman or degrading punishment or other treatment.”

Article 141 of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.

“Any person who is arrested or detailed shall be informed as soon as reasonably practicable .. ..of the reasons for his arrest or detention and shall be permitted, at his own expense, to retain and instruct without delay a legal adviser of his own choice…”

Article 139 of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana

“Every person, as contemplated by the respective international treaties set out in the Fourth Schedule to which Guyana has acceded is entitled to the human rights enshrined in the said international treaties and such rights shall be respected and upheld by the executive, legislature, judiciary and all organs and agencies of the Government, and where applicable to them all natural and legal persons and shall be enforceable in the manner herein prescribed.”

Fourth Schedule includes Convention of the Rights of the Child

Article 154 A of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.

The (Guyana Police) Force shall be employed in the prevention and detection of crime, …. and the due enforcement of all laws and regulations with which it is directly charged …” Police Act Chapter 16:01 of the Laws of Guyana.

The events surrounding the arrest, detention and subsequent torture of a fourteen year old minor and at least one other suspect while in the custody of the Guyana Police Force at the Leonora Police Station are as chilling as they are abhorrent.

The subsequent refusal by the Guyana Police Force to permit another brutalized detainee access to a legal advisor of his own choice, particularly eminent Senior Counsel, for a period of four days is a flagrant violation of the guaranteed protected fundamental rights of the citizen, as set out in the Constitution of the Republic of Guyana by those whose primary duty is to uphold the rights enshrined in the Constitution.

The restriction and prevention by the Guyana Police of access by the media and other members of the public to a Magistrate’s Court while victims of police brutality where present in the Court are ominous signs of a cover up and suppression of the publication of criminal activity by law enforcement officers.

We the undersigned wish to condemn in the strongest possible terms the torture of a minor and for a matter of fact any other person while in custody by members of the Guyana Police Force.

We wish to record our unreserved condemnation of the Guyana Police Force of their refusal to permit the minor access to a legal advisor of his choice after his detention by the Guyana Police Force.

The restriction of access by the media to a public court by members of the Guyana Police Force where evidence of their acts of torture and violence is unashamed attempt to suppress the dissemination of information to the public of criminal activity by members of the Guyana Police Force who are charged with the responsibility of protecting and serving the public. This enjoys our unequivocal condemnation.

We condemn crime in all forms and offer our sympathies to the victims of all crimes.

We make the following immediate demands:

1. The immediate institution of criminal charges against those responsible for the torture of the minor at the Lenora Police Station between the 27th and 30th October 2009.

2. The establishment of an independent public Commission of Inquiry into the following:

(a) Operational and structural procedures of the Guyana Police Force which led to the torture of a minor while in police custody.

(b) Operation and structural procedures which permitted these events to proceed undetected and unsanctioned.

(c) Operational and structural procedures which facilitated an Attorney at law being denied access to his client.

3. The immediate suspension of the Officer in charge of the investigation and the officer in charge of the station at which the minor was tortured during the conduct of the investigation into the events.

4. The immediate provision of immediate medical and psychological treatment to the victim of these horrific events.

1. Bernard De Santos S.C.
2. C.A. Nigel Hughes.
3. Vic Puran
4. Khemraj Ramjattan
5. Stephen Fraser.
6. Mark Waldron.
7. Glenn Hanoman.
8. Pamela De Santos.
9. Roger Yearwood.
10. Ronald Burch-Smith
11. Gregory Gaskin.
12. Anil Nandlall.
13. Gino Persaud
14. Joseph Harmon
15. Robin Hunte.
16. Kenita Cumberbatch.
17. Deborah Kumar.
18. Raphael Trotman.
19. Peter Hugh.
20. Satyesh Kissoon.
21. Rexford Jackson.
22. Moen Mc Doom. Jnr.
23. Mishka Puran.
24. Manoj Narayan.
25. Tanya Warren.

Facebook advertising

I have noticed that for some Guyanese Facebook is slowly morphing into a something of an interesting combination of Craig’s List and EBay. Guyanese are increasingly using Facebook to market everything from iPhones to parties. And so too are other Caribbean folks as well.

Among my FB friends is a young lady in Trinidad who advertises clothes, shoes, handbags and designer cell phones on her FB wall and album for sale. The business seems to be thriving as she regularly announces ‘new stock’.

A photographer I met recently in Tortola is using his FB account to promote his photography business. He lists services, packages and rates, along, of course, with sample photos (mostly of eye-pleasing models). If I have photography needs in Tortola I’d hardly want to use anyone else, though I might haggle a bit over price.

Over in St Lucia one guy is using FB to hawk just about every model of mobile phone there is. The St Lucians and Bajans advertise parties and events on Facebook as a matter of routine. And while I have not seen it myself I suspect that it is no different in many of the other islands, particularly Trinidad and Jamaica.

I’ve seen deals on just about every model of Blackberries advertised on Facebook by one particular dude (Guyanese operating out of the US) who also offers iPods and iPhones at competitive prices (though Digicel Guyana’s $50,000 Gemini is quite unbeatable).

And if a promoter is having a party in Guyana and they do not have a Facebook presence then it just is not worth going to in the minds of some folks.

Social media is breaking convention even in Guyana (which, traditionally, has been late to catch on) to the point where some parties are almost exclusively ‘advertised’ on Facebook without any ads in the mainstream media. The truth is though that the Guyanese crowd has been late in using FB for these purposes as party promotion in particular (especially underground parties) has been exploiting Facebook for the better part of 2, maybe even 3, years.

What all of this means of course is that the costs of promoters and living room business people are much less. They have a direct means of reaching thousands of people with just a few mouse clicks and taps of a keyboard. Television, radio and newspapers will soon begin to pay keen attention if they have not already because advertising dollars which previously went to them is being withheld by promoters and these living room business folks. The mainstream media is displaying a usual arrogance towards new media but once it starts to bite them in the pocket you bet they will change their tune. It’s not biting them hot and often enough just yet but give it a few months more and they – like Collie Buddz – will come around.

Good to see that we’re getting there. Hope to see other areas catch up as well. Many folks are no beginning to discover Twitter and are still largely confused by it. Once they understand the power and penetration of it that too will revolutionize how things are sold and events are promoted. Like everything else in these parts, just give it some time.

The top CSEC students

This year’s top Guyanese CSEC (formerly CXC) students are:

1. Kia Persaud

2. Padminee Roshundat

3. Robert Ferguson

4. Jasodra Davi Boodhoo

5. Davendra Singh

6. Esha Homenauth

7. Arifa Mohamed

8. Dianne Natasha Narine

9. Tejram Dhanraj

10. Tiffany Clementson

11. Jaikeshan Takchandra

12. Joshua Bhudial

13. Rajiv Nandalall

14. Davendradat Doodnauth

Sincerest and heartiest congratulations to them all. I wish them successful careers and fulfilling lives.

PS: I hope ACDA has taken note. Or perhaps we can find a way to blame government for this as well?

Strike back against phone thieves

A cousin of mine and a friend of hers recently had their mobile phones stolen in Georgetown. It was early evening and they were standing on the street chatting and exchanging phone numbers when a neatly dressed young man walked up and held my cousin’s hand, forcibly removed the phone and then snatched her friend’s phone. He then calmly walked away.

They were left helpless and mildly distraught after what was a slightly traumatic experience. Naturally when one loses a mobile phone, either by theft or otherwise, one tends to be more concerned about the valuable information stored in that phone – particularly the contact details of friends, colleagues and loved ones – than the instrument itself.

In 2005 when I worked with the West Indies team I and several of my then colleagues had our phones stolen in Sri Lanka and we had not known about the need to save our IMEI numbers. Fortunately after a month our phones were returned to us after an intense countrywide search by the Sri Lankan police and army and the offender – an army deserter – suffered a terrible fate.

After the loss of my phone and over the years I received several emails advising that I copy and store my phone’s IMEI number in a safe and secure place in the event I lose the instrument. Ever since I received the first email about this I have been keen on storing the information but thankfully I have not had reason to use it for the purpose intended. I have also forwarded this most useful email tip to others and I am certain that I forwarded to my cousin as well.

Purely by coincidence I came upon her at the very scene of the crime less than five minutes after it occurred. After a quick assessment of the situation it was agreed that there is little sense in going after the thief in the dark of night in a dangerous ghetto area in which he appeared to have entered to make good his brazen escape. We were left with two options. One was to report the matter to the nearest police station. This is Guyana, we agreed that the phones were lost for good and decided not to pursue that course of action.

We could however exact some form of revenge. I immediately asked her for the IMEI number so that we could report it to her network and have them render the phone useless. Unfortunately she did not have the number saved.

You should not make this mistake. It is easy, painless and may come in useful.

To view your phone’s unique IMEI number simply input *#06# on your keypad. The number will automatically show up. Copy it, send it to yourself and select loved ones by email and, as a back-up mechanism, it is also a good idea to write it down in a place where it will be easily accessible. Saving your phone’s IMEI is like a quasi-insurance policy of sorts.

If you suffer the unfortunate experience of losing your phone you should contact your service provider and provide them with the IMEI number. They will be able to use the number to block the handset from being used even if the thief (or new owner) changes SIM cards. The phone will become nothing more than a paperweight.

I have come to realise that many people are aware of the need to save their phone’s IMEI number but, sadly, out of pure negligence they do not save it and some are left bitter and helpless when they lose their prized handsets. If enough people all across Guyana save their IMEIs and phone thieves realise that stealing people’s phones is a worthless petty crime it could lead to a reduction in the incidence of phone snatching which seem to be at an all time high in Georgetown.

Without Murray as leader PNC will die

Today I had intended to write a slightly different follow up to my previous post. This Stabroek News article has caused me to make some adjustments.

The thrust of my initial post was that the PNC’s only plausible chance to survive with a slight semblance of credibility is to elect the irreproachable Winston Murray as leader. It would have gone on to make the point that a team of Dr. Richard Van West-Charles as leader with Murray’s endorsement is a backward configuration. My contention was that Murray, not Van West-Charles should take charge of the seriously ailing PNC.

Murray commands the respect of the party faithful and those who have become disillusioned, even the government finds it difficult to sully his name, reputation and character and has virtually withdrawn any efforts to so do. Across the political, social and cultural divides Murray is seen as a professional and compassionate man of integrity and purpose. He is perhaps Guyana’s most genuinely credible and believable politician.

His soul has not been corrupted by national politics nor has Murray been consumed by the beast that is the party. He is his own man, quietly and intelligently following his own path regardless of political and social consequence. He is the man the PNC needs at this juncture to foster reconciliation and broker peace within. He is best positioned to rebuild and retool the party in its most perilous state since its conception.

The PNC, for its very survival, needs to capitalize on Murray’s powers of thoughtful diplomacy, civility and human decency to win back the active support of dozens of fine leaders who have quietly departed the ranks of the party in disillusionment.  Murray, not Corbin, not Van West-Charles can best infuse energy, vitality and life into the party which it has been lacking since the death of Desmond Hoyte.

Should the PNC re-elect Corbin – as it is poised to do – it will be, to state the situation simply and grimly, digging its own grave and all to the benefit of the two parties it finds itself contending with for political space. If the PNC as a collective body does not realise that Murray, not the uninspiring Corbin, must be its leader at this time, then the party is not worth any serious consideration by the voting populace.

The options should be clear. To elect one leader is to commit to resurgence and recapturing lost relevance; to elect the other is to commit him to lead the party on a final walk to the political graveyard. Van West-Charles has apparently recognized the stark difference, will the broader PNC constituency?

The end of the PNC?

This weekend the PNC/R will go into its Biennial Congress at the party headquarters – Congress Place – and unlike on any previous occasion the leadership position will be hotly contested. Incumbent Robert Corbin is the favourite and his main challenge will come from Dr. Richard Van West Charles, the recently returned son-in-law of LFS Burnham and former Minister of Health.

Capitol News, last evening, virtually confirmed that Dr. Van West Charles and the unimpeachable Winston Murray (who was also nominated to contest the position of leader) will team up against Corbin and his new right hand man, lawyer, Basil Williams. The formal announcement of team Van West Charles/Murray is expected sometime today.

Given the overwhelming number of nominations for Corbin (160+) over Van West Charles (20+), Corbin is expected to be returned leader of the party but there are already growing murmurs that the election process is likely to be seriously flawed which is certain to cause disgruntlement amongst the losers in particular.

There has been a building wave of disenchantment and outright opposition to the leadership of Corbin since the resounding 2006 electoral defeat – the largest in the party’s history. Efforts of party stalwart Vincent Alexander to displace Corbin thereafter were stymied in controversial circumstances at the previous congress and Alexander and other influential members of his team resigned their positions in frustration and remain on the outside to date.

Given the widespread disillusionment with Corbin as leader his imminent return to the senior most post in the party is likely to viewed as unbearable by the many who have been calling for change at the top.

Coupled with the alleged irregular voting system, Corbin may find himself with an unrelenting opposition to his leadership immediately following the election. There are those within the party who feel that Corbin no longer has a valuable contribution to make as leader and with him at the helm the party will only disintegrate further.

The difficulty is that his main contender – Van West Charles – not unlike Corbin himself, is a relic of the dark days of oppressive PNC rule. Van West Charles has garnered some level of local and international support but does not have mass appeal within and without the party to make the impact a contender who wishes to displace Corbin must make. He must be hoping that by teaming up with the highly and widely respected Murray his image will be softened to allow him a surprise victory. It may not be enough.

Corbin and his team have already made overtures to Murray. Williams – the lead nominee for the position of chairman – has reportedly intimated that he is willing to step aside in preference for an Indo-Guyanese candidate as the party seeks a multi-racial leadership duo. Murray is unlikely to seriously consider any offer from Team Corbin as he recently resigned from the position of chairman owing to fundamental disagreements with Corbin in particular on a critical aspect of the party’s philosophy.

Under Corbin the PNC has performed worst than it had ever done previously and under his continued leadership there is no sign of an improvement on that performance. Corbin as leader of the PNC post-2009 will most certainly lead to the further fragmentation of the party and this will be to the natural benefit of the AFC which is already positioning itself as the pre-eminent opposition force given the mounting impotence and increasing irrelevance of the languishing PNC.

PNC faithful are aware that the leadership battle is a most critical one in the party’s recent history and any persistence with Corbin will ensure at least one more round of embarrassing and possibly crippling – if not fatal – electoral defeat. So entrenched is Corbin though that he appears to be an immovable force at the top, and harbours every intention of remaining put even if it means the complete and utter destruction of the party itself.

Kaieteur News caption confusion

Some editor at Kaieteur News has made a complete hash of the caption to this photo in this article. Their choice of caption makes it appear as though the children live in the shack with the jumbie of their mother.

Of course this is petty compared to the much larger issue at hand. One hopes that the Minister of Social Security the Honourable Priya Manickchand, once again puts her money where her mouth is and steps up to the plate and rescues these four, now motherless, boys. Surely leaving them in the hands of their junkie father will not be in their best interest. To her credit the minister has done well in similar situations previously and one hopes she takes the necessary action in this situation as she has proven she is very capable of doing.

The economics of blackout

People across the country are cussing bitterly about the almost nationwide blackouts which Guyanese are suffering on a daily basis. However little do these complainers know that there is serious economics behind it all.

These blackouts are no different to any of President Obama’s stimulus packages. Blackouts stimulate the economy and all Guyana ought to be grateful.

Businesses have to buy generators so businesses selling generators are making big bucks. Generators need fuel so gas stations are being emptied of gasoline more frequently.

Then the average Jagmohan does not want to stay home in the dark so he packs up his family in the old car or bus and takes them to Igloo or Edy’s or Demico or KFC or Church’s or Pizza Hut or Popeye’s or Royal Castle or some other such establishment. They use more gas than usual to drive to and fro so even more business for gas stations. Then more business for Igloo and Edy’s and Demico and KFC and Church’s and Pizza Hut and Popeye’s and Royal Castle and so on.

And those who do stay home have to buy lamps and candles. And lamps need kerosene so more business for the gas stations.

And blackouts improve social interaction and reduce – yes reduce – crime. With no electricity to allow the televisions, computers and radios to work folks are left to talk with each other, share stories, experience and so on. Blackouts help the family to bond whereas televisions, computers and radios cause families to drift apart and become estranged leading to all sorts of social ills.

And when there are blackouts people are not huddled in their bedrooms and living rooms, they come out into their yards and onto their gaps and the streets. With people swarming around everywhere thieves are afraid to strike as they are more – yes more, not less – likely to be identified. One would think that thieves would flourish in blackouts but it is not so. They flourish when the electricity is on as then everyone is indoors watching television or surfing the internet and have no time to look out for the suspicious characters prowling the neighbourhood.

And then workers who know that when they go home they will be going home to darkness prefer to sit it out at work. They are thus less grumpy while working overtime and those who are not working overtime just hang out at work and get a little more done during the stay.

This nationwide blackout is not crippling the country, it is stimulating the economy. Major kudos to the government for instituting this brilliant economic stimulus package.

The best and worst of Maggie’s

Maggie’s Snackette on New Market street is wildly popular with the professional crowd for weekday lunches. If you are calling from a, let’s say, law firm, non-governmental organization, government office or private sector company and you place an order for 10 to 20 lunches, particularly if you do so regularly, if not daily, you will be treated like royalty by the Maggie’s staff.

They will be courteous, considerate, thoughtful and cater to your every need. Their food is just shy of excellent and the people who order food there know it hence the thriving business that is Maggie’s. The snackette is almost impeccably clean as well and one is given the distinct impression that it is a very sanitary operation and one should harbour no discomforts or second thoughts about eating there or eating from there.

Maggie’s Snackette though has been placing advertisments on VCT Evening News for sometime now. It therefore tells me that the business owner is interested in broadening her clientele. If she (I’m guessing someone called Maggie is the owner) is going to have any significant success in this regard she will have to overhaul her customer service.

As mentioned previously, persons who place large and/or regular orders are treated like Arabian princes. If you are an unfamiliar face and you were to walk into Maggie’s to order two lunches though you are very likely to encounter the other side of the Maggie’s customer service.

The staff will show no interest whatsoever. Asking them a question is like sentencing them to jail, it results in something resembling a scowl if you are lucky enough to receive any reaction at all. You will find responses coming in grunts and accompanied by a disdainful impatience as if to say “why yuh don’t tek yuh thousand dolla an go an ask yuh questions some way else? Yuh thousand dolla don’t pay nobody hey, so yuh should go an buy yuh food by de lady selling over de stink drain outside Stabroek Market.”

With this sort of attitude purchasing food at Maggies will lead someone, before long, to let out a loud, deafening scream, slam a chair into the wall and jump over the counter and choke one of the women behind it. Maggie should try her darnest to avoid same by having a serious chat with her girls about customer service FOR ALL. If not, she should cease advertising and continue exclusively serving her large order clients.

Edison Jefford slips again

Edison Jefford, sports reporter at Kaieteur News, claimed on Twitter that he was trying to be surgical in writing his articles so that I would not have reason to criticize any of his mistakes.

Contrary to what he seems to think I do not monitor his, or anyone else’s articles in Kaieteur News or any other newspaper. I read articles which interest me and sometimes Edison’s articles do. There was a short period (just a few days) when I combed through the Kaieteur News sports section to highlight to them that their plethora of silly errors were ridiculous and inexcusable. I had noticed that immediately after I did this the errors reduced and with a few weeks having passed it seems as though they have become lax once again.

This article by Edison caught my attention today. Following are two excerpts:

1. “The ‘Little Kenyan’, as he is known, was responding to Ballantyne’s proclamation in this newspaper during an interview last week that he does not think that Forde would not be a threat in the upcoming marquee CARICOM 10k.”

There is one more ‘not’ in this sentence than Edison really intended therefore the meaning of the sentence is completely changed.  The following sentence exposed Edison lackadaisical approach.

“Cleveland is my friend and I want to give him a lot of credit. He is young but despite the CARICOM race being held in Guyana this year, I don’t think he will be a threat. I have a lot of experience,” Ballantyne had indicated.”

2. “The quiet and humble Forde dismissed Ballantyne’s comments as part of his usually way of trying to intimidate other athletes. He made it clear that he is not afraid of Ballantyne as the pre-race hype among them continues.”

This second error needs no explanation.

And further Edison fails to mention what country Pamenos Ballantyne is from. That is a critical piece of information for readers yet Edison completely ignores it and his equally thoughtless editor fails to point it out.

And there is yet more. Despite a key element of the article being about Cleveland Forde training in the canefields Edison again fails to provide details. This sort of training style is likely to be very new to the average reader. Most would never have heard of it before, yet Edison staunchly refuses to provide details. If he did not provide details because he did not seek same from Forde when he interviewed him then that is even worse.

The article is incomplete and thus leaves the readers hanging. What canefields does Forde train in? For how long? Does he run in the actual fields or on the dams of the canefields? Why does he train in the canefields as opposed to a grass track or the road?

I am aware that Edison thinks very highly of his writing. Unfortunately if he continues producing such mediocre articles he will continue to sit in a very lonely boat or perhaps he can have Sean Devers for company.