LiveInGuyana

Mike Mc Cormack

• Bascal Johnson of 420 East Ruimveldt died one day after he was shot in the head while on Laing Avenue on January 4-THE G.H.R.A WAS SILENT

• On January 8th, waitress Kulmattie Singh was shot dead when gunmen invaded Safraz Bar located at Lamaha Street, Kitty-THE G.H.R.A WAS SILENT

• Also on January 8thVibert Weekes 28, of North/East La Penitence Georgetown, was approached by a lone gunman around midnight outside a business place and riddled with bullets-THE G.H.R.A WAS SILENT

• On January 10th the body of Luciana Bhagwandin, was found on a dam in Harlem, West Coast Demerara it bore multiple stab wounds-THE G.H.R.A WAS SILENT

• Nicolas Hoyte was shot dead at Sixth and Light streets, Alberttown on Tuesday January 12th-THE G.H.R.A WAS SILENT

• Sunita August was beaten to death by her husband before her body was dumped in a koker at Nismes, West Bank Demerara on January 13-THE G.H.R.A WAS SILENT

• On January 18th passersby stumbled upon the dead body of Llewelyn Fitzgerald Campbell called Elton, who was left on the Kingston Seawall with his throat slashed-THE G.H.R.A WAS SILENT

• On January 27 while resisting armed robbers at his Ezee Runnings taxi service, Davenda Bholanauth was shot. He died 2 days later-THE G.H.R.A WAS SILENT

• On January 29, Dhanpaul was shot dead by a teenager on a Corentyne poultry farm where he was employed as a security guard-THE G.H.R.A WAS SILENT

• On January 31, Sophia resident Kwesi D’Andre a suspected thief was shot dead by a MMC security guard who has since been charged-THE G.H.R.A WAS SILENT

• On February 5, the Georgetown Prisons was the scene of a deadly brawl during which, Solomon Blackman a mentally ill inmate was battered to death by infuriated prisoners in the capital offences dorm moments after he fatally stabbed fellow inmate Dewan Singh-THE G.H.R.A WAS SILENT

• On February 14th Gregory `Micey’ Stuart, a 24-year-old Sophia man was fatally stabbed during a confrontation over a missing cellular phone-THE G.H.R.A WAS SILENT

• On February 24th 64 year old hearing impaired remigrant Ishwar Mithu was found bound in his Peter’s Hall home. He had been smothered to death with a pillow and the perpetrators had carted off several household items after ransacking the house-THE G.H.R.A WAS SILENT

• Rawle Harding was shot and killed by bandits on Wednesday March 4th-THE G.H.R.A WAS SILENT

For an organisation that supposedly "makes available documentation about human rights violations, especially violations against the integrity of the person and due process of law" and one which is never shy in protracting itself as a guardian of the 'people's rights', the G.H.R.A's silence in the midst of all the atrocities perpetrated against citizens that we have listed above is amazing. Even more so, it is strange that this prolonged silence was only recently broken in defense of A.F.C front group, the Amerindian People's Association, after the latter was severely criticized following their erroneous claim that the LCDS consultations were a sham.

Ms. Jocelyn Dow, one of two independent monitors for the London-based International Institute for Environmental Development (IIED) for the widespread national consultations last year, said she does not share the view that the LCDS process was a farce or that it failed to take account of FPIC (Free Prior and Informed Consent) as claimed by the APA.
The criticisms of the LCDS consultations and related aspects of the strategy came in a statement from a workshop for select indigenous leaders held in Georgetown last week and organised mainly by the APA, which stayed away from the consultations process.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Guianas and Conservation International (CI) Guyana, in a joint statement Tuesday, noted the “substantial and unprecedented effort put in to garner support and input into the LCDS from hinterland communities in particular”.
They added, “we have been encouraged by the depth and range of responses received to date. We share the principle of free, prior and informed consent in decision-making that has been stated in the LCDS.”

The G.HR..A is often accused of being a one man entity which has as its agenda the furthering of Opposition cause and is also noted for its support for criminals. So it comes as no surprise that they have jumped on the bandwagon of an Alliance For Change front group which by its small membership cannot speak on behalf of the Amerindian people of Guyana as was alluded to by Toshao Hildebrand James of Aishalton, Region Nine.