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Open Letter To Sir Shridath Ramphal

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Lincoln Lewis, General Secretary (on leave) Guyana Trades Union Congress.
Lincoln Lewis, General Secretary (on leave) Guyana Trades Union Congress

30/07/09

Dear Sir Shridath,

Fraternal Greetings,

This is an open letter with a copy forwarded to Barbadian and Guyanese media. I  have chosen to communicate with you both privately and publicly since the issue that prompted this engagement emanated from public statements attributed to you. I could not help but take notice about your references to “ethnic cleansing” first reported in Stabroek  News (Guyana) June 26, 2009 in relation to the case of Barbados exercising its sovereign right and legal means to regularize undocumented workers and illegal Guyanese immigrants.

One notes that without compelling evidence there was an almost indecent haste to publicly accuse and castigate a sovereign nation and label the regime of Mr. David Thompson as one guilty of intimations of the most heinous crime against humanity.

The denotation and connotations of “ethnic cleansing”, the gruesome images it conjures up, and the international concerns that such claims are capable of evoking are not made less impacting by the qualification of “ intimations”, particularly when made by a distinguished knight of the British throne for whom credibility comes with little question, particularly in our hemisphere and Third World. This makes your statement even more troublesome and dangerous for a developing nation like Barbados.  Based on your stature and intellect, recognized and respected throughout the world as shrewd, many would find it difficult to appreciate that such apparent thoughtless mis-speak was not driven by emotionally driven racial considerations.

Whereas you live in Barbados and are not affected by the conditions creating turmoil, anguish and desperation of your countrymen in Guyana, you would appreciate that the rising number of immigrants to Barbados and Guyanese fleeing their homeland to live in foreign countries is a sign of the nation’s failure to provide for its people, and to prevent them from migrating under any conditions.

As the human rights of Guyanese at home continues to be eroded under the Jagdeo/ PPP government, your voice Sir Shridath is not noted  as one seeking the relief and upholding of law and order, of justice,  and the respect for trade union rights and upholding the Constitution.  Under President Jagdeo there was/ is a death squad which was headed by US prisoner on trial Shaheed ‘Roger’ Khan and which government Ministers Ramsammy and Gajraj are implicated in. Taped conversations also implicate President Jagdeo , other top ranking government and police officers of being associated with drug kingpin Shaheed ‘Roger’ Khan . Hundreds of young black males were brutally murdered and went missing as the government used their murders and torture for political gains. The Guyanese landscape is stained with rampant government corruption  at all  levels, money laundering, narco trafficking, an unharnessed criminal underworld with government connections and support, mismanagement of the affairs of government, nepotism and racial strife promoted by a dictatorial megalomaniac and a government that is more an “ethnocracy”.  The Guyana Constitution is being violated with impunity and there is no regard for the separation of powers of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. The right to freedom of expression, dissent and association is being eroded. All Guyanese are living in fear but remain divided by racial tensions fueled by a government supported by an Indian base who are kept in fear of their black brothers and sisters who the PPP constantly criminalize and deny the right to a court trial. Africans are being accused then murdered as in the case of Minister Satyadeow ‘Sash’ Sawh case which is now closed after the torturing and subsequent murder of accused David ‘Biscuit’ Leander even as he was in the police lock ups.

Torture is the mode supported by and tolerated by the Jagdeo government to get accused men to give statements implicating themselves. Torture is done by the death squad members as reported in the case of Axel Williams and Mark Thomas also known as Kerzorkee; by  PPP supporters identified as community police who are being armed by the state; by rogue elements of the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force.

Guyanese no longer have peace nor a safe environment which they can feel comfortable to raise their families and participate in the development of this nation for all to be able to enjoy regardless of race, or political persuasion.  43 percent of our nation’s gross domestic product is remittances. It is the highest in the hemisphere. The PPP government needs this and is perhaps motivated to engage in a sophisticated form of trafficking in persons as part of it developmental strategy. It is recognized that in excess of 80 percent of our university graduates migrate. Nurses and teachers, among other professionals are also leaving in droves. In response to the exodus and the public concerns about the exodus, the government is on record saying people can leave and it will train more. This is indicative that they are not prepared to put systems in place to create decent jobs as a part of its developmental thrust.

As a young man I was engaged in struggles against previous administrations alongside Dr. Jagan, the PPP, Walter Rodney and others. Today, Freddie Kissoon, Senior Lecturer at the University of Guyana, and political analyst, compares the grievances under the PNC to “boy scout mischief” in comparison to the evil that we see unleashed on Guyana by the Jagdeo/PPP regime. The principles, I stood for are still held dear and sacred. They are built on the understanding and respect for human rights and dignity which fundamentals are being trampled on by President Jagdeo and the PPP regime. Today the PPP is committing crimes against humanity with impunity. There is no excuse for extrajudicial murders and there should be no tolerance for state associated death squads and narco militarism

Dr. Rupert Roopnarine in Stabroek News article published July ,26th 2009  compared his experiences of being locked up for arson under the PNC and noted that: “Apart from the discomfort of being handcuffed behind my back for a night, I suffered no physical abuse. The other comrades who were held at other police stations around the country experienced no physical abuse. Three days later, in response to writs of habeas corpus, we were placed before the Magistrate’s Court where Walter, Omawale and I were charged with arson and released on bail. Mr. Troy Small’s misfortune is that he came under suspicion of having committed the crime of arson not in the dark night of dictatorship but in the bright noon of democracy.”

Sir Shridath, African Guyanese need your distinguished voice raised to defend their rights which are being violated in Guyana under an Indian based government. All Guyanese need the support which you can bring to this nation by lending weight to our cries for true democracy , good governance , accountability , justice , the upholding of human rights for all,  an end  to the lawlessness and government death squad narco relationship .

We need your voice to be raised against the slow genocide that is occurring in Guyana, where the life of Africans, like the days of slavery is losing value, apart from being a useful tool for wealth production.

You are also encouraged to speak out on other aspects of political and worker discrimination, which I am sure you would be apprised of in the media and international reports.

I remind you of the words of US President Obama: “No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves, or police can be bought off by drug traffickers. No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20 percent off the top, or the head of the Port Authority is corrupt. No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery. That is not democracy, that is tyranny, and now is the time for it to end”

Guyana needs your voice. I am willing to meet with you to discuss further ways in which you can be of service to all our people. I can be contacted at (info supplied)

Attached are some newspaper articles and other reports that you may find useful for preliminary enquiry.

Yours sincerely,

Lincoln Lewis

Concerned Guyanese Citizen

General Secretary (on leave) Guyana Trades Union Congress.

Sample links to articles regarding Government association with Death Squad and US Drug accused Shaheed ‘Roger’ Khan

July 31, 2009

Dr. Ramsammy purchased spy equipment

July 31, 2009

Roger Khan’s gang had plotted to abduct diplomat’s wife

July  29, 2009

Militarised security equals politicised justice-GHRA

July 29, 2009

Roger Khan ordered Waddell killing- informant tells Simels trial

October 5, 2008

Is the phantom squad still lurking in Guyana?

June 8, 2008

Roger Khan had govt permission to buy surveillance equipment-lawyer

November 14, 2007

The Persaud disclosures

Allegations of torture by Government Officials

December 9, 2008

GHRA condemns use of torture by disciplined services

November 11, 2008

Context of torture allegations needs to be understood-President

November 2, 2008

Torture allegations

September 26, 2008

Torture report will not urge sanctions if culpability established-Luncheon

July 23, 2008

Burnt and beaten prisoner laid to rest

October 13, 2007

GHRA unhappy that serious rights issues remain unresolved

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115 responses to “Open Letter To Sir Shridath Ramphal”

  1. mash up & buy back Avatar
    mash up & buy back

    N.b. The support or defense of the position of his group should be done where there is overwhelming support to bolster the position of the group.

  2. David Avatar
    David

    @mash up

    The learned legal eagle is entitled to his view. We read it with interest and it corresponds with how a few BU members view the reference by Ramphal i.e. his intimation of ethnic cleansing remark. BU must give way to the legal and logical interpretation which Mr. Cumberbatch has applied. What is missing from the interpretation is a more liberal application of context. Barbadians and others are reacting to the connotation which such a use of the phrase brought at the time. The phrase could have been reasonably anticipated to have been inflammatory in the prevailing climate, and still is!

    Ramphal’s unwillingness to apologize given what even his closest friends must deem an inappropriate use of the phrase by a elder diplomat in the prevailing climate was ignorant and give rise to questioning motive.

  3. mash up & buy back Avatar
    mash up & buy back

    David

    I agree jeff cumberbatch is entitled to his view,however similar to his stance on barbados recent immigration policy and his condemnation in print and the airwaves of lindsay holder’s position re his conclusions on number of migrants via observations;it is clear to me that jeff cumberbatch is pandering to the indian group.

    Inquring minds will like to know why.

  4. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    I said a bit on Cumberbatch when he made a statement to the effect that the B’dos Gov’t was acting illegally when it deported illegal immigrants without their possessions. Back then I said “There is no one like an educated fool. They like to impress people with their wide knowledge on a particular subject and pontificate from their patrician pulpits to us plebes” Another blogger posted that Cumberbatch was intelligent (Themis is that you?) I have no doubt that Cumberbatch is intelligent but I would add that Cumberbatch is also an intellectual or perceives himself to be an intellectual so he would defend those who are also considered intellectuals against people like us on the blogs i.e. “The great unwashed”.

    Ramphal hasn’t seen fit to defend himself but look who is coming to his defense; after all it would make for some uncomfortable moments when the intellectuals gather on the cocktail circuit sipping their Johnny Walker Blue Label if they are critical of one another.

    At least we know that some of them read the comments on the blogs but in the end what matters is not Cumberbatch’s opinion but the opinions of the majority of Barbadians.

  5. mash up & buy back Avatar
    mash up & buy back

    To:All Concerned

    Please read this article from a noted regional political scientist and university prefessor – Dr Selwyn Ryan.

    Pay attention to the pattern of behaviour of those of the indo tribe in their cries od discrimination and ethnic cleansing;

    Pay attention to the claims by young afro trinidiadian junior doctors that their fellow senior afro trini doctors were aloof and refused to give them a helping hand,while the senior indo doctors were all but shoving the indian interns through the door;

    Pay particular attention to the claims often made by young afro trindadian women that without their knowledge during surgery at labour,indian doctors (and names of the doctors were called)were deliberately tying the tubes of these black women thus seeking to deny future births of black children.

    Is there a lesson for us here in Barbados especially in light of the ramphal statement,and the racist behaviour of ricky singh,and the indo guyanese (now in Barbados) against afro guyanese back in guyana?

    **************************************

    mixture of racial hyperconsciousness

    Selwyn Ryan

    Sunday, August 16th 2009

    In recent days, we have had several statements on the “race question” from Dr Tim Gopeesingh, Dr Fuad Khan, Dr Courtenay Bartholomew, Dana Seetahal, the Maha Sabha, Gopio, the Indo Trinidadian Equality Council, Prof Selwyn Cudjoe, Israel Khan and Marion O’Callaghan, to identify a few of the better known commentators. The trigger for the talkfest was the emotive statement made in Parliament by Dr Gopeesingh that “there has been an issue of ethnic cleansing at the Port of Spain Hospital as far as the doctors are concerned. I understand that most of the East Indian doctors have had to leave Port of Spain Hospital”.

    Dr Gopeesingh’s statement was savaged by numerous citizens. I too advised him that he should apologise to the public for misspeaking as Obama had done. I suggested that his use of the term was making it difficult for the public to focus on the substantive issues raised in his statement.

    I have read his subsequent statement with care, and if anything, his use of the phrase was retained and even amplified, notwithstanding the fact that some of the senior doctors involved had publicly disassociated themselves from his remarks. Dr Goopeesingh might have felt that he had to shout “wolf” to get attention, but my own assessment is that he has lost a significant amount of credibility among some observers, as well as the opportunity to have his allegations discussed in a dispassionate manner.

    I have myself made some preliminary inquiries and have concluded there is need for some kind of investigative report to verify the truth or otherwise of his claim. What we seem to have is a gaseous mixture of racial hyperconsciousness, professional greed, jealousy and frustration, xenophobia, bureaucratic incompetence and bungling, institutional rivalry, political jostling, and much else. The mixture is toxic, but does not nearly deserve the label, “ethnic cleansing” or “ethnic dirtying” for that matter, which is perhaps what we are left with.

    The matter is complex and of long gestation. There was indeed a time when similar allegations were made in respect of Mount Hope. These allegations were investigated by the Centre for Ethnic Studies which had the following to say in its 1994 report:

    “With regard to Afro-Trinidadian doctors, the views expressed indicate a perception that the medical profession had become or is fast becoming a closed shop controlled by Indo-Trinidadians, in which the choicest training and clerkships are reserved by Indo-Trinidadians for other Indo-Trinidadians.

    Afro-Trinidadians doctors lament that those Afro-Trinidadian who are in senior positions and thus able to sponsor the careers of junior Afro-Trinidadian doctors seldom do so, preferring to appear even-handed or else remain aloof. Some junior African doctors go on to argue that their seniors effectively suppress their careers. The argument was repeatedly made, “if the Indians can do it for their kind, why can’t our own people?”

    When questions were raised about reports that certain doctors were tying the tubes of Afro women without medical justification, there was reticence on the part of persons questioned. The report thus concluded as follows:

    “The most disturbing part of all this was the suspicion which some nurses (and doctors and medical students) had of the integrity of the care delivered by Indian doctors to Africans. Some were very sceptical, especially of gynaecologists and obstetricians (names called); there were even allegations of a concerted plot of genocide in which Indian doctors were supposed to be sabotaging the reproductive functions of African women. No evidence was advanced to support these allegations, but they were instructive as a measure of the suspicion and paranoia that exist in this critical area of the government service.”

    The paranoia remains even after the death or departure of some of the principals in that preceding set of events. This is perhaps one very good reason why in a society such as this, it is inadvisable to have a health system in which 80-plus per cent of the doctors are of one ethnicity and most of the nurses are of another ethnicity. As the researchers found in the 1994 study, “it is possible to discern among these two groups something approximating a siege mentality.” Were Dr Gopeesingh and his colleagues witnessing the by- product of that siege mentality, or were they simply crying “wolf”? The public needs to know. Does the Gafoor Report throw any light on that matter?

    Equally problematic was the Emancipation Day Address given by Dr Selwyn Cudjoe in which he claimed that the Trinidad news media did not give appropriate attention to the concerns and achievements of black people. As the other Selwyn moaned, “no black person who expresses a view contrary to the dominant ideology is ever given space in the newspapers or on television …Nothing of importance to the black community is given space in the media. If one were to look at our newspaper on daily basis, one would be led to believe that black people do is kill and maim one another.”

    Dr Cudjoe went on to unleash a savage attack on those who might be termed “pseudo blacks” (aka the black Brahmins or the black bourgeoisie) who live in gated suburban communities and who believe that they were more privileged than the uneducated blacks who live in the ghetto and who ignore the fact in the final analysis, the tribe is scarified not on the basis of who is the brightest and the best but by the worst performers. As he warned blacks, “our community is founded more on our culture than our colour; on our social and cultural capital than on our financial capital.” In sum, we need to be a resource for the black community at large, whatever we do as citizens.

    As was the case in respect of Dr Gopeesingh, Dr Cudjoe exaggerated his accusations about the media, and most people dismissed them as an ethnic rant which had no empirical foundation. Unfortunately, his attack on the media served to mute the positive and relevant injunctions and messages which he directed to the black middle class,viz, that individually and, collectively, we no longer serve as motivators and mentors for black youth who are venting their rage on their communities and the society at large which is paying the price for our negligence.

    The same message was being sent to the black middle class by Marion O’Callaghan (Newsday). Callaghan was concerned about the fact that the black community was no longer producing the outstanding doctors as it did in the late 19th and 20th century. Is it because a bunch of doctors and administrators rig the system in favour of their coethnics? Hardly.

    The “social reality” which led to those astonishing performances no longer obtains.

    In sum, the ingredients of “merit”are not fixed or determined by brain alone, but also by social, cultural and economic circumstances. In Callaghan’s judgement, in contemporary Trinidad and Tobago, “In every one of those areas, while there are highly placed Africans, as a group Africans rank considerably lower than any other group in the population.”

    -To be concluded

  6. David Avatar
    David

    A couple takeaways from the article:

    1. What can we learn from a society with an ethnic make-up which is relatively mature, certainly when compared to Barbados?

    2. Look at how our media is controlled, where can we find news disseminated with a nationalistic flavour. Bear in mind the 4th Estate is a key player in the governance and development of societies.

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    Thanks for sharing your thoughts on malayala manorama newspaper malayalam.
    Regards

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