Latest update March 28th, 2024 12:59 AM
May 21, 2011 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom
In no civilized country of the world someone should be detained, arrested or have his or her freedom restricted without just cause. This is inconsistent with democratic principles which recognize the rule of law and the right of all to be free of arbitrary arrest or detention.
A person may be held for questioning but that person, once not arrested should be free to cooperate as he or she determines best. In any event a person should never be detained unless there are credible grounds for such an arrest.
Mere suspicion cannot be the reason for such detention because this would open the floodgates to arbitrary arrests that restrict the liberties of subjects.
The arrest of an American citizen with ties to the Nation of Islam, by the Guyana Police Force has raised serious questions about the rule of law in Guyana. CNN is reporting that the cleric has since been released without bail or without being placed in front of the courts.
The arrest sends a worrying signal within the country and suggests that the country may be regressing from established standards of democratic governance. What has happened to the cleric can happen to anyone and this is where the real danger lies.
The arrest of anyone without just cause violates that persons human rights and makes Guyana look like a police state. Guyana is not a police state but it certainly can become one if such conduct is condoned.
In this instance an American citizen was involved. The American government should immediately demand, in no uncertain manner, a full explanation for the unlawful detention of the cleric.
If no full explanation is forthcoming or if no credible explanation is given, it is likely that the Americans would consider imposing some form of selective sanctions, possibly visa restrictions.
When the news of the cleric’s arrest was announced, it was said that he was being held on suspicion of being involved in certain activities. It was even speculated that the American government may have issued a complaint in this regard.
This latter claim did not add up because why would the American government have issued such a complaint when they could have acted on the complaint themselves seeing that the cleric had arrived in Guyana from their country and was a native of that country.
To detain someone without any basis is by far the most dangerous development in this country for some time, far more dangerous than any of the alleged comments made by political firebrands in recent months.
This incident comes in the wake of other incidents where the police can be said to have acted in excess of what was necessary. One such case involved two social activists who were kept in a prison days on the basis of allegations of obstruction of traffic.
During the Burnham regime, persons were secretly carted away and questioned about their activities. Their homes were invaded and their movements tracked. The present incident is a throw back to that terrible period when human rights were so flagrantly violated.
This time it is an American citizen involved and it is therefore to be expected that the Americans would demand an explanation for the detention of one of their citizens without what would seem at the stage to be a detention without sufficient grounds.
But what could have caused such a detention? There is speculation out there that the authorities may have been interested in the activities of the persons concerned. But why? Does this have to do with the fact that we are in an election season? While the authorities have a right to be cautious and careful during these times, it certainly does not give them the right to restrict the activities of someone who is unlawfully in the country and acting within the limits of the permission to so enter the country.
Why would the police be interested in the activities of a cleric and who he has been speaking with? There are many such religious persons who come here regularly and they are not detained. Could it be that the police were acting under political instructions, and that the arrests were politically inspired? If this is so, then Guyana has turned the wrong bend.
One has to wonder also if there were no approaches to the courts what would have been the outcome of this matter? Is this how things are now being done? That the police can simply arrest someone and not bring them to court as soon as is practicable?
All right-thinking organizations in this country should seriously demand from the authorities, an explanation because if there was no basis for the arrest of the American, it means that civil liberties are at its greatest risk since the days of Forbes Burnham.
It is therefore the responsibility of all civic organizations to raise their voices in condemnation of what has happened and to demand an explanation.
The American government is not expected to treat this matter very lightly. They too would have demanded an explanation. They must now be given a proper explanation and if they do not then it is quite possible that selective travel restrictions can be placed on some officials of the Guyana government.
This is an ugly incident which has taken place. It should not have happened. How could someone have been under the radar if they were granted entry into the country just days before.
Even if information later came to hand, then the authorities cannot act until they have sufficient grounds.
Guyana must not become a police state. If, however, in the face of certain actions, the representative organizations and political parties keep silent, it may do so sooner rather than later.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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