Allegations about police torturing a child

The media reports allegations that a 14 / 15 year old boy was tortured while in custody of the Police in Region 3. A group of lawyers , and other organisations have strongly condemned this act of torture.


It is reported that the Police have started investigations and that two officers are in police custody. The investigations would hopefully reveal who else is accountable for the ill treatment of this child.

This is the second report of a child being tortured while in police custody. There was another report in Region 6 of another child who had been brutalised in police custody and his lawyer had made several attempts to seek justice.

The condemnations of police brutality seem not to work when sections of the society believe that it is okay for the police to behave this way.

The child must receive the best medical care possibly and there must be appropriate psychosocial support. In Guyana's circumstances, that support might have to come from the private sector and I hope the Government pays for that care. The family should be able to choose the source of that care, not the police.

Secondly, the boy is reportedly at the time of writing, still in police custody. He should be released to his parents' custody. He has suffered enough.


No human  being in Guyana in 2009 should be tortured, or subject to 'excessive use of force'.  This incident of torture follows other incidents which have not been investigated. Guyana's constitution guarantees that "No person shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading punishment or other treatment."

Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 5, 2009 at 5:53 PM

    It goes beyond one or two children... signs of deep-seated trauma in society. how, in a society so small that everyone knows everyone, can this happen? at what point do we say that it's not just the police or GDF, but it is a sickness that runs rampant, from the minibus drivers who drive recklessly without regard to life, to the way teachers treat children with disdain or harshness, all the way up to the torture of a 14 yr old -- all symptomatic of underlying trauma... it's like everyone has become numb

    ReplyDelete
  2. PavlinaNovember 10, 2009 at 10:56 AM

    Vidyaratha,
    Do you think Guyana has reached a terminal point with the current horrors?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Vidyaratha KissoonNovember 10, 2009 at 11:42 AM

    Hi pavlina
    Many people believe it is a turning point really, it is the choices which Guyanese people make in terms of how they deal with this and other abuses.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Turpentine mango madness

Image
Some of the mango was stuck on the stubble around my mouth. I looked at the mirror, a bit of shame because I had just collected an invitation from a well dressed guy and I wonder how I must have looked to him.. look at dis big man .. he cyan eat mango good . Thing is.. wiping off mango from stubble is difficult.. and the casual swipe with a hand which might have some juice is also useless. The turpentine mango is useless when it is green - it tastes awful, like turpentine.  Mother Nature works a miracle because the ripe one though, is sweet, juicy, no strings and no turpentine taste. And the colours on the skins are bright yellow/orange/pink/purple/red shades that are probably meant to draw all species of mango lovers. The trouble with turpentine is that you cannot pick it green or 'turnin' ' to ripen like say how they do it with Spice mangoes.  You have to leave on the tree until there is some point.. when there is no taste of turpentine. So you look at the m
Read more

My experience with depression - Dr Raquel Thomas-Caesar

Image
(The University of Guyana held Turkeyne & Tain Talks 2 on Monday 12 September, 2016 on Suicide Prevention . Dr Raquel Thomas-Caesar made a presentation based on her experience. This is the text of the presentation) by Raquel Thomas-Caesar I am not an expert on the issue of Suicide and Depression but this is my personal journey dealing with such issues. I have never spoken publicly about this at such a forum and I hope that it serves to help others even if only a small way- Dr Raquel Thomas-Caesar South East London,  June 9, 1995 As I sit under the tree, hidden from all eyes…I wait….to go. I wait to die. Then it hits me…OMG. I really don’t want to die. What have I done? My head is swinging, fuzzy, I can hardly walk. But I barely make it up and up the hill…I see two young black men in the distance…they come towards me, I could only imagine they thought I was on drugs..I beg for help. My Angels.  I wake up in the hospital. This was me- 21 years ago.  In a foreign land, drea
Read more

The uncomfortable white man in the room with history..

Image
  "Is what dey had at .." the taxi man asked me.  Driver from reliable taxi service. Car is old. Man looks old, cap, copper bangle on his left hand. Car not too far left of the road as bright lights seem to blind the man and car seem to move left then right.   Driver talked as some do, he used to work in the printing industry.  I explained that it was a gathering, a British photographer doing something with old time photo processing plates and so. Taxi man said he would have liked to see that.   Truth was, I could not really explain what dey had because I do not know the technical language of photography. or Art. But I like going to things I know nothing about to push my boundaries. Uncomfortable white man The British photographer is white, a film maker doing photography.   Working collaboratively with a Black woman descended from Guyana. They share the same surname. Mal Woolford and Charlotte Woolford live in the same neighbourhood in the UK , their children had attended t
Read more