COMMENTARY
Guyana government responsible for Bacchus' assassination
by Rickford Burke
Friday, June 25, 2004
The Caribbean-Guyana Institute for Democracy
(CGID) strongly condemns the cold-blooded assassination of Guyanese
businessman, George Bacchus. It was George Bacchus who exposed state sponsored
murder in Guyana and named Guyana’s Minister of Home Affairs, Ronald Gajraj,
as head of a government “phantom” death squad, said to be responsible for over
four hundred (400) murders.
Bacchus was scheduled to testify in court
Thursday as a witness to his brother’s murder by the said death squad.
It was clear to all that George Bacchus’ murder was imminent. Guyana’s
President Bharrat Jagdeo and his government deliberately stalled the
appointment and functioning of a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the
seamlessly corroborated allegations of murder against Minister Gajraj. This
delay and stonewalling ultimately facilitated Bacchus’ execution.
CGID states categorically that Minister
Gajraj’s announcement that he was proceeding on leave to allow for an
investigation was a sham. The Minister has since still been functioning as a
Minister of government and has not proceeded on leave as the Guyanese people
have been led to believe.
Moreover, President Jagdeo’s announcement
that he had constituted a Commission of Inquiry to investigate these
allegations was a mere act of political puppeteering designed to bamboozle and
hoodwink the nation and the international community into believing that a
genuine investigation would have been conducted. This was an act of treachery.
All the while as the PPP government pretended to act, the plot to murder
Bacchus was afoot in the hall of governmental power.
The assignation of George Bacchus is
consistent with the murderous history, gangsterism, and bloodthirsty nature of
the political establishment allied to the PPP government. The practice of
state sponsored murder and government killings in Guyana could not have been
sanctioned by Minister Gajraj alone. Very senior officials in the governmental
hierarchy, including President Jagdeo, should be presumed to have knowledge of
this criminal enterprise. Therefore there must be accountability at the
highest levels of government.
The assassination of George Bacchus will not
absolve Minister Gajraj from murder charges. Neither will it remove the cloud
of state sponsored murder and government killings which now shrouds the
government of Guyana. In fact, it demonstrates clearly that anyone who opposes
the government or exposes the evil and corruption of PPP government officials
will be brutally killed by government assassins.
These nefarious acts are reminiscent of Iraq
under the regime of Saddam Hussein. Hence, the murderous conduct of the
government of Guyana is an international atrocity that must immediately engage
the attention of the international community.
Rickford Burke is the President of the Caribbean - Guyana Institute for
Democracy
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