Sergeant Narine Lall of the Guyana police was this month promoted to Inspector; his colleague Mohanram Dolai zipped up two ranks, from constable to corporal. Nice for them.A couple of years back, they were held liable for pouring methylated spirits onto the genitals of 15-year-old Twyon Thomas, then setting him alight.
Other than that little incident, Lall had an "unblemished record," said the Police Service Commission. He had a "superb" record, said the head of Guyana's presidential secretariat, Roger Luncheon.On October 27, 2009, young Twyon was relaxing at home, watching television with his sister. Not for long. A squad of four police demanded entry, barked questions about a gun, and arrested him. He was stripped to his boxer shorts and locked alone in a cell for the night.
Next day, a jersey was tied round his head, so he could not see. He was badly beaten. He was told: "If you na talk me gon left dem fuh kill you right here."Then "I felt something cold on my genital area and legs I then heard as if a lighter was flicked and then I felt a heat and smelt as if my flesh burnt...I started screaming."
His mother and stepfather were not allowed to see him–indeed, they could not find where he was held. They trekked vainly from station to station, from La Grange to Leonora, from Den Amstel to Vreed en Hope, and then to Brickdam.
Four days after his arrest, Twyon was released and admitted to hospital. The day before Twyon was held, the former chairman of Guyana's Region Three, Ramenath Bisram, was stabbed to death in his home. Police were desperate to find his killers. They thought Twyon was linked to the murder.
Another suspect, 20-year-old Deonarine Rafick was arrested and beaten. He signed a confession, but the DPP dropped proceedings next month. He was eventually released–badly bruised and limping–after two more weeks. Clearly, the case against him would not stand up in court.Who killed Ramenath Bisram? We still don't know.
And who burnt Twyon? After an investigation by the Office of Professional Responsibility, Lall and Dolai, both of the Criminal Investigation Department, were charged with the unlawful and felonious wounding of Twyon Thomas and the other suspects.They went to court no less than 17 times. Each time, Twyon and other key witnesses failed to show. Eventually, the case was dismissed.
Twyon's lawyer was Khemraj Ramjattan, now leader of an opposition party, the Alliance for Change. Asked about the no-shows, he said "I have my suspicions...but I would keep it to myself."Twyon through his lawyer also claimed compensation of G$25 million–close to $800,000 TT. A state counsel argued that the claim was "misconceived, speculative, vexatious and without merit." But in June 2011, Justice Roxane George awarded just over $200,000 TT.
She found Dolai and Lall civilly liable for torturing Twyon Thomas.Her judgment spoke of his "torture and cruel and inhuman treatment"; of "an absolute and flagrant disregard" for his constitutional rights.She noted the Judges' Rules which state clearly that where possible children should be interviewed in the presence of a parent or guardian; and referred to and Articles 37 and 40 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child which cover unlawful deprivation of a child's liberty, and undignified treatment.
Getting your testicles burnt probably counts as a little worse than "undignified treatment."Lall and Dolai were interdicted for an extended period–they did not have to show up for work, received half pay, and were free to take other jobs to make up their earnings.The Police Service Commission chairman Omesh Satyanand said that almost four years after Justice George's ruling: "We should not hold something against someone because they would have committed something wrong."
Guyana's Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett last week trotted through her paces at a UN Periodic Review of Guyana's human rights record in Geneva.All UN member states face periodic human rights reviews. The office of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights looks at reports from national governments, and from NGOs such as Amnesty International.
Guyana has faced some tough questions, from the US, from European countries and from others. Rodrigues-Birkett has been asked about extra-judicial killings, the death penalty, Amerindian rights, violence against women, and outdated laws which punish same-sex relationships with a stiff prison term.
She said on Wednesday: "The Constitution strictly prohibits torture...The government has publicly condemned abuse and torture and repeatedly demanded any allegations of torture and mistreatment of citizens including prisoners must be expeditiously investigated and action taken against defaulting ranks."
Fine words. Apart from that little matter in 2009...
"Other than that, Mrs Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?" ran a 1960s New Yorker cartoon. It showed a journalist interviewing Mary Todd Lincoln in an 1865 theatre box. Next to her was the body of her husband, freshly assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.