Buxton is a terror camp
- Andaiye, Kwayana, Hinds
Stabroek News
September 1, 2002
Buxton, East Coast Demerara is now "a terror camp" and both the PPP/Civic and the PNC/R must take full responsibility for that deterioration, three leading members of the Working People's Alliance (WPA) said.
Making three short-term recommendations to deal with the issue, including arms control regulations crafted to suit the present situation, they warned that if it were not brought under control, more Buxtons will emerge overnight.
Buxton has been the scene of the murder of two law enforcers, robbery on persons passing through the village, burning and looting of property among other criminal activities since violence erupted in the aftermath of the general elections in March last year. Residents have claimed disenfranchisement and marginalisation and extra-judicial killings as giving rise to the violence.
There have also been reports of bandits operating out of the village by paying villagers from their booty after their violent robberies, looting and pillaging, for protection.
The three reiterated that power sharing was one of the answers to the problems but distanced themselves "unequivocally" from any scheme aimed at arriving at power sharing as a result of the calculated escalation of violence.
In a letter to the editor of this newspaper (see page 8), the three WPA members, Andaiye, David Hinds and Eusi Kwayana said that the psychological, social and cultural damage being done to that village surpassed anything since slavery, including the dreaded 1960s. Hinds and Kwayana are deemed respected elders of Buxton.
Stating that the PPP/C and PNC/R must take full responsibility for the current state of the village, the three said that "it is their zero sum political behaviour that paved the way for the boldness of the criminal and other extreme elements who now run things there."
The three WPA members noted that in spite of the "progressive increase in gun-related crimes, the statute books remain as they were." They noted, too, that there were provisions that were not being invoked.
They said that the government and its agencies could craft arms control regulations to suit the present situation; that an expert from within the law enforcement agencies could make frequent addresses to offenders in the hearing of the nation; that law enforcers could offer options to offenders, including the option of a fair trial under international observation; and if the situation did not improve, government should admit through parliament, that it was out of control.
The three also recommended that after meaningful consultations with the opposition forces and civil society, the government should apply standard coercive regulations necessary to prevent the country from sliding knowingly into the abyss.
Urging both the PPP/C and PNC/R to come off their partisan horses while it was still possible to do so and to save Guyana, the three said that the issue was no longer "simply about politics and marginalisation" but it was one of saving the nation.
Appealing to Guyanese who still have the courage to speak out and to do so with one strong voice the three said that when they muttered quietly that they opposed the violence, their public silence was encouraging the perpetrators of the violence and adding insult to the injury caused to the victims of the violence.
On the other hand they urged African Guyanese who are supporting the violence to stop confusing naked terror with their historical quest for freedom. They said that any freedom that any group seeks through the rape and murder of its fellow citizens, including some of its own race, can never be real freedom.
They said that the willful and malicious setting on fire of a human body was an aggravated crime against humanity. "Treating women as a prize of armed conquest, either by rape or attempted rape, is an especially odious crime against the mothers of the human race and against humanity." Both these offences they noted were carried out recently at Non Pariel, East Coast Demerara.
In the past, they said, they had condemned African Guyanese atrocities against Indian Guyanese and they condemned them even more strongly now as the violence became more brutal. They noted that a similar though less brutal violence has begun to spread to African Guyanese victims. They said they had warned that in the end crime and violence knew no race and that was now coming to pass as African Guyanese were being targeted in recent weeks.
Noting that it was difficult to distinguish naked crime from political violence, they felt there was a political element to all that was happening. They noted, too, that according to news reports and eyewitnesses, a few Indian Guyanese criminals were operating out of Buxton under the leadership of their African Guyanese counterparts.
Noting that illegal weapons were playing a large part in the upsurge of brutal violence, they said that only the government can "have final and operational responsibility for the presence of illegal weapons among the population" since they would have crossed borders or passed through ports of entry for which the government has official custody.