20 Venezuelan women accused cops of abuse
– say they were robbed during raid
By Shervin Belgrave
Kaieteur News – At least 20 Venezuelan women are accusing members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) of assaulting and robbing them of thousands of US and Guyana dollars during a raid on Saturday last at the Diamond Hotel and bar located on George Street Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown.
According to one of the women, Maria Guitierrez, this is the second time that officers have allegedly done this to them. She said that on Saturday around 23:30Hrs, four patrol vehicles stopped in front of the building and broke into the premises. “They broke the gate and entered”, she told Kaieteur News.
Police have since confirmed that indeed a raid was conducted at the hotel based on allegations that trafficking in person was taking place there. However, as it relates to the allegations of theft and assault by the ranks, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum has advised the 20 women to make a report to the force’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).
The Venezuelan continued that, four female officers entered along with several male officers and stormed onto the second and third floors of the building. Without saying a word, Guitierrez explained, they started ripping out the surveillance cameras, in the vicinity of the rooms and began kicking open their doors. When Kaieteur News visited the hotel, indeed the doors were destroyed. Beds were broken, CCTV camera cables were cut and ripped from the walls. “They began to drag us out of the rooms and if we tried to resist or asked questions we were threatened with a baton”, said Guiterrez.
Some, who reportedly tried to defend themselves from being assaulted were beaten by the female officers. At least two of the women showed this reporter the scars and black and blue marks they suffered from the alleged assault they received at the hands of the police ranks. One of the women said that she was choked by a female officer with a baton. Guitierrez added that the officers then proceeded to round them up but before doing so their cellular phones were reportedly taken away. Their rooms were then ransacked, beds broken and when the women asked the ranks what they were looking for they refused to give them an answer.
A ransacked room on the night of the raid.
One of the women recalled that officers used a pair of scissors to cut open her puzzling tin with some savings she had inside. “They took all the money from inside the puzzling tin they even searched everything fine, fine , our purses, suitcases and other stuff. We even saw them taking cash and some of our belongings but at the time we could not verify what they were taking out of our rooms because it was a total confusion”, recounted that woman.
After destroying and ransacking their rooms the women were then taken down stairs and forcefully boarded into the four waiting patrol vehicles. Guitierrez said that the officers took them to the police station where they were kept for hours.
Kaieteur News was able to confirm with police that the foreigners were taken to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters. Guitierrez said that while there the officers told them that they had received reports that they were victims of trafficking. “We tell them that it is not so and that we were staying at the hotel out of our own free will”, Guitierrez related. She added that others said that they were in Guyana illegally. “We showed them that we have our legal documents to stay in the country for three months”.
One of the doors that was damaged by the officers.
After keeping them there for at least four hours, the officers gave them back their phones and released them. Guitierrez however noted that before their release, the officers forced them to sign a document that they were treated well, and given food and water while in custody. According to Guiterrez this was not true. “We were only given water, assaulted and robbed”, iterated Guitierrez. One of the women, Wendy said, “We were thrown out into the dark streets close 05:00Hrs without no money and no transportation to go home. Luckily we had our phones and some of us had credit”.
Stranded on Camp Street in front of CID headquarters, the women began making calls to friends and trusted taxi drivers begging for a drop back to the hotels. “Upon their arrival there, we began cry”, Guitierrez said. She continued, “All of our savings were gone. Some of the women were planning to travel to Venezuela next week but now that is impossible”. Wendy said she lost US$500 that she had been saving and some Guyana currency also.
Another claimed that she lost US$1000 and Guyana Currency. All 20 women claimed that cash was stolen from them. Guitierrez said too that apart from the stolen cash, their electrical hair straightening iron along with pieces of brand new clothes they had bought for their children were also stolen. The women related that they are willing to comply with the law enforcement officers and facilitate searches but it is unfair for them to be robbed of the money they had worked hard for. It is also unfair, they said, to be mistreated and beaten by the police.
