Silence in the face of chronicle lawlessness

Nov 02, 2023 Editorial

Kaieteur News – It is becoming a matter of life and death in this country to talk about things seen. Witness a murder, or a violent incident, and the willingness to say something to the authorities can deteriorate to a life-threatening situation. The murder of the Guyanese way of life expands and intensifies, and it does not just involve street crimes, but many other avenues of local life.

Recently, a witness to a murder was menaced to within an inch of his life. The threat from the armed and dangerous did not happen under the cover of dark, but in broad daylight. The message was simple and final: dare to speak about what was seen and kiss this life goodbye. The dire threats were extended to the man’s family. Who would care to say what they saw anymore when this is what follows? This is not a first-time occurrence where eyewitnesses have been given chilling messages, but a last resort extension when other appeals or incentives have failed to produce the desired results. In other words, it is becoming a serious hazard to life and limb to speak to truth, to speak at all in Guyana.

Partners are now afraid to speak to their domestic partners on matters that are a source of concern for fear of being subject to unwarranted attention by law enforcement. It is the twisted and possibly deceptive route chosen by the skillful to blow issues out of context, so as to get the dominant hand on a now objectionable presence in the home. The result is that eggshells are walked upon, and an artificial silence takes over in the domestic hearth, as devious and maliciousness rules.

In the streets, there is a different code of silence in the face of a now pervasive culture of lawlessness. Members of the Guyana Polie Force turn their faces, or pretend not to see motorcyclists without helmets, drivers parked anywhere, drivers beating traffic lights and endangering other commuters in a variety of ways. Mostly male members in the population relieve themselves in full public, view anywhere that they decide is convenient. Youthful and older citizens use the congested roads in any helter-skelter fashion, and piles of litter and litterers can be seen in many places. There is a common thread that runs through all of these actions in the local environment: nobody says anything in the face of chronic lawlessness. There is fear of either an obscene verbal assault, or the anxiety of a full physical confrontation that seems every ready to pop to the surface. Sometimes, the thin line of law enforcement defense is present, but without any effect on the glaring violations of the law that are prevalent.

On occasion, a few workers in the public service, or an aggrieved community resident, find the courage to express their concerns and unhappiness over questionable developments in their workplaces or neighborhoods. It could be about compromised bosses, or shoddy project work, or damage to property. But most of those speaking out (writing to the media) do so anonymously due to fear of retaliation.

Freedom to speak one’s mind is a cherished lynchpin in real democracies, yet there is a healthy fear in Guyana today about saying or writing anything that would attract the attention and anger of the government. Guyanese are solemnly informed that constructive criticisms are welcomed, but there is great unease in citizens about how powerful people in the government defines what is ‘constructive’, what is not, and who has the final say. Furthermore, the government has a standing army of agents ready to pounce and overpower any word or writing that is interpreted as something that exposes government failures.

No citizen should fear to express his or her conscience freely, what is seen, how they think, and what they know. When such fear exists, then we would make the case that there is scant difference between fear of government, and fear of gun-toting criminals terrorizing witnesses or foes standing in their way. One has to be blind and mentally incompetent not to appreciate how lawlessness has infected every layer of this society. Criminals imitate the government and, other than the few law-abiding, many citizens follow the unruly, uncontrolled crowd.

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deteriorate, Editorial, Guyanese, Lawlessness, murder

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