Guyana to set date for Commission of Inquiry into extra-judicial killings

The Guyana government will soon announce the date for the Commission of Inquiry (COI) expected to investigate claims of extrajudicial killings and other crimes during the early 2000s. ,

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said that President Dr Irfaan Ali will soon announce the establishment of the COI in response to statements made by the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) during International Day of Democracy celebrations on September 15.

Jagdeo said that the decision to move forward with the COI is in line with a recommendation from the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC).

In its March 2024 review of Guyana’s report on the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the HRC urged the government to prioritize the investigation of alleged extrajudicial killings during the 2002–2006 crime wave.

The opposition parties had expressed concerns over the alleged extrajudicial killings of hundreds of young Guyanese men of African descent, linking the incidents to the previous ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government.

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Jagdeo described these claims as hypocritical and filled with race-baiting rhetoric.

He told reporters that the government is moving forward with the COI to address the truth behind these allegations which have resurfaced in recent years.  There are claims of up to 2,000 killings.

He said: “They continue to perpetuate the lies…it is an old racist thing.”  Jagdeo added that the terms of reference for the inquiry are being finalized.

He criticized the opposition for its contradictory stance on extrajudicial killings, recalling their support for criminals during the crime wave following the infamous 2002 Camp Street prison jailbreak.

He also accused the PNCR and AFC of labelling criminals as “freedom fighters” during that period, which saw an unprecedented rise in armed robberies, murders, and police-targeted killings.

Unsolved crimes during that period include the gunning down of then Agriculture Minister Satyadeow Sawh, two of his siblings and a security guard in April 2006. Repeated calls by the Sawhs for justice have apparently fallen on deaf ears. Then United States Embassy Regional Security Officer, Steven Lesniak and a number of Trinidadian water utility workers had been kidnapped separately and later released. Several policemen and soldiers had also been gunned down in the line of duty.

During that period 30 AK-47 assault rifles and five handguns had been stolen from the armory at the Guyana Defence Force’s (GDF) Camp Ayanganna headquarters.