Latest update April 23rd, 2024 12:59 AM
Dec 15, 2011 Letters
Dear Editor
I waited for a statement from the Army or maybe a group of ex-Army officers, and then I got a call from a concerned citizen who asked me simply; “If they can shoot Collins and he is a Brigadier, then what about me?”
Having followed the events of December 6, 2011, where the Guyana Police Force opened fire on a group of demonstrators, I was aware of the caller’s concern and knew what she was implying.
Guyana is a very small country with less than 800,000 citizens, and in Georgetown, sometimes it seems more like a big village rather than a city. The appalling aspect of that day was that a man who was entrusted with a state commission as a Second Lieutenant to uphold and defend the laws of Guyana, and swore an oath to defend this nation from all enemies foreign and domestic; that that officer faithfully executed his duties for over thirty years, rising to the rank of Brigadier and secured the appointment of Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force, was shot at close range by ranks of the Guyana Police Force, who knew who he was, but executed their orders regardless.
Brigadier Edward Collins not only served this country with distinction but he also is a member of the Order of Service of Guyana, with an unblemished military record. He is a member of the Hall of Fame at the United States War College and has ably represented this nation on several occasions.
For those who have no knowledge of what is required in a situation where the civil power (the police) is called to respond to what may be referred to as crowd control, what happened on December 6 was so far outside of the norm that no one (police or military ) can defend it.
The police arrived on the scene and they asked the crowd to return to their homes; the crowd was a peaceful crowd; the crowd was not a threat to the police; the crowd was not damaging property or attempting to damage property. Instead of making a comprehensive assessment of the situation, the on-site commander chose to escalate a situation that was under control.
A distinguishing feature of any democracy is the space offered for legitimate dissent. People in Guyana are allowed to express their grievances through direct action or peaceful protest. The use of force as explained in the law and in police procedures remains constant; “force should only be used when it is absolutely necessary, it should be minimum and proportional to the situation and its use should be discontinued as soon as the danger to life and property subsides”.
We have already established that there was no threat to life and property, the crowd was peaceful and not hostile in any way. The police procedure further states that as far as practicable, the methods of persuasion, advice and warning should be used. If, however, the use of force becomes unavoidable then only the irreducible minimum force required in the circumstances should be used.
The United Nations (UN) guidelines are clear; UN basic principles state that the use of force in dispersing non-violent assemblies should be avoided and if that is not possible, then the minimum force should be used. In the case of violent unlawful assemblies, firearms should only be used if less dangerous means are not available and only to the minimum extent necessary.
It was well documented that the PPP/C government bought a water cannon for crowd dispersal, and anyone with military training would have recognized the tear gas canisters on the web gear of the riot policemen; many of the regular ranks even had batons. There was a wide array of choices at the disposal of the on-site commander, so one must ask, why did he select firearms as his first choice?
The second question pertains to Brigadier Collins who was clearly one of the leaders of the march. The Brigadier was known to the on-site commander and it therefore baffles me why that officer did not entrust the dispersal of the crowd to Collins, who was clearly identifiable as a leader.
Nothing in the entire sequence of events of that day makes any sense and the judgment of the on-site commander is highly suspect. These questions must be answered to the satisfaction of the public and any deflection from facing them head-on will only further undermine the confidence of the populace in the police.
That an independent Commission of inquiry has not been convened does not bode well for public trust, also the disrespect and lack of professional courtesy extended to Brigadier Collins exposes a sinister streak in local policing that needs to be addressed immediately.
Mark Archer
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