Education on respect for human life can help the GPF shed its problems

Jul 13, 2019 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

The murdering and abuse of prisoners while in police custody are human rights violations which are escalating in Guyana.
Recently, Mr. Lallbachan Bachan, a young taxi driver who was incarcerated at the Suddie Police Station on DUI charges became a statistics to these problems.
Mr. Bachan was found dead in his prison cell in which he was singly housed. An autopsy report revealed that Mr. Bachan died from asphyxiation and his voice box fractured. So who murdered Mr. Bachan? Was it the police?
However, in an alleged cover-up attempt, the police claimed that Mr. Bachan died from a fall, which fractured his voice box. But drawing from a bit of anatomy, it is obvious that the police are into fake news because the voice box is a vital cartilaginous structure which spans a short length of only about 25 millimeters along the upper respiratory tract. Given this, the tiny voice box is quite easily fractured through direct trauma such as squeezing on it in the neck region.
Therefore, it can be reasoned that the police fractured Mr. Bachan’s voice box by deliberately choking him and sealing off his airway thereby blocking the vital flow and exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide essential in sustaining his life. Editor, this knowledge is necessary in helping to zero in on how Mr. Bachan died. Also, a motive behind Mr. Bachan’s murder needs to be calculated based on information that he failed to come up with the hefty bribe of $100,000.00 which the police allegedly demanded.
Further, the fact that Mr. Bachan was singly housed rules out the possibility that he was murdered by persons other than the police. Of course, the police need to be held accountable given the dynamics in this case.
Mr. Bachan was the main breadwinner for his family and his murder will no doubt plunge his young wife and their four young children into undue economic hardship in a country unable to provide them with any kind of social safety net.
Also in an unrelated case, about six months ago, Mr. Kalicharran Sawak became another statistics of grave human rights abuse while he was in police custody at the Sparendaam Police Station where he sustained a fractured skull and a slew of physical injuries, which caused him to haemorrhage and die. To date, nothing came out of this case, which can easily be cracked with whistleblowers.
Further, it needs to also be clear that no matter if the police murdered Mr. Bachan or Mr. Sawak, they need to be held accountable because these men were in their custody when their human rights were violated.
The ordeal of these two men is reminiscent of my very own experience with the GPF. Several years ago, a certain police constable unsuccessfully attempted to extort money from me. I was obviously selected as his victim.
He retaliated by enlisting a vanload of officers who were brandishing huge rifles as if they were in combat with drug lords. The brainless officers heard that I was visiting from New York and they reflexively raced over to get me based on erroneous calculation that I was loaded with money. This experience made me realize how the Police prey on innocent citizens like criminals.
The coward police even forcefully took me over to the East Ruimveldt Outpost. I was no doubt traumatized. And I knew that the extortioner will frame me and have me detained. I also feared that the police were going to beat me and murder me in a dark cell.
As predicted, the extortioner fabricated silly lies about me but he failed to sell them to the corporal and he was booted from the Outpost. The corporal was the one who stepped in and did the right thing in saving my life. I was absolutely shocked to see drunken officers on the job at the Outpost. Some of them were pointing to great big ledgers and mumbling that I must deposit money in them but I pretended not to understand what they wanted and so I asked the corporal for clarification. The corporal responded with a wide smile. The GPF can’t be trusted. The GPF is dysfunctional, dangerous, corrupt, abusive and lawless. The GPF can’t be of benefit to Guyanese given its lawlessness.
However, I am convinced that the GPF can shed its problems through education, which emphasize respect for human life. And this will allow only good things to fall into place for the benefit of every Guyanese.

Sincerely,
Dr. Annie Baliram (Ph.D)

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