“We need to bring closure” – Minister Harmon hints CoI into execution-style killings
DPI, GUYANA, Friday, January 26, 2018
Minister of State, Joseph Harmon today confirmed that a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) is on the cards to investigate a series of execution-style killings that took place during Guyana’s worst crime era, 2000-2008.
Minister of State Joseph Harmon.
He reminded that in the 10th Parliament President David Granger, then Leader of the Opposition brought a motion to the National Assembly calling on the government at that time to establish an inquiry into these killings, but nothing was done under the previous administration.
“Now he [President Granger] is the Head-of-State and he is in a position to do something about it and I want to assure you that he will do something about it.”
The Minister said those Guyanese who have lost their families during the Lusignan and Bartica massacres and other mysterious killings deserve closure.
“At some point in time you need to bring closure to some things and I believe that was what the President was saying, that we have to bring closure. Under the laws of Guyana, any time there is an unnatural death, the law requires that an inquest is held,” the Minister posited.
This, he noted is catered for under the Coroner’s Inquest Act.
Every year, Minister Harmon said, there is a ceremony in remembrance of these persons that were brutally killed giving rise to the emotions of those directly affected, re-emphasising the need for closure.
The State Minister disclosed that there are persons who were never called upon to give testimonies.
President Granger on several occasions has stated his commitment to the launching of an inquiry into the murders including that of former Agriculture Minister Satyadeow Sawh who was assassinated in April 2006.
The President had noted that gathering evidence is a difficult task since many witnesses also vanished, but the inquiry remains on his Administration’s agenda.
The motion premised on Article 138 (1) of the Constitution, which was laid in the 10th Parliament sought to address “unlawful killing of undetermined numbers of persons including assassinations; executions; murders; extra-judicial killings by members of the Guyana Police Force Target Special Squad” and other forms of criminal violence in the country.
By: Stacy Carmichael
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