Police deny stripping AFC councillor but protestors say otherwise

While the Alliance For Change (AFC) is condemning the actions of the police during the people’s protest action on the Essequibo coast on Friday, the law enforcement agency says it did nothing wrong.

Rice farmers being hanged?

The AFC in a statement yesterday referred to the alleged assault and inhumane treatment of the party’s Region Two Councilor, Naith Ram, by members of the Guyana Police Force. The incident occurred during protest action by rice farmers in that Region. It’s not the first time that the police have come in for flack over its handling of protesters and on every other occasion they have sought to justify their actions. The statement from the AFC said that the “Guyana Police Force continues to bring shame upon our nation by the manner in which it mistreats and abuses our citizens. Its resort to publicly undressing a senior member of our party is yet another example of a crude and uncivilized approach to policing.” But the police denied that it had assaulted Ram, who is now in custody. Instead, the police accused him of stripping off his own clothes. According to the AFC, one of the parliamentary opposition parties, it received reports that the police actions were directed by the PPP Regional Chairman who reportedly instructed them to “crush the protest demonstration.” “The use of the Police Force as a tool of political oppression will not be tolerated by the Alliance For Change. This incident must be fully investigated,” the AFC stated. The Guyana Police Force, however, has a different version of what transpired. It stated that approval was given to hold a protest march on Friday, commencing at 09:30 hours from the Bush Lot New Market to the Anna Regina High Bridge where a meeting was to be held. The police said that at the conclusion of the protest march and meeting, most of the persons left, but some remained and began imbibing. Later Friday afternoon, those who were imbibing and some others that included Naith Ram, boarded their motor vehicles, including tractors and trailers, and proceeded to drive along the middle of the main roadway in the vicinity of the villages of Reliance and Land of Plenty, Essequibo Coast, at a very slow rate. This action resulted in a back up of traffic as other motor vehicles could not pass, and they continued their actions despite efforts by police ranks to get them to drive on the left hand side of the road. On reaching a short distance before the Land of Plenty Bridge, the men blocked the entire roadway with the use of their motor vehicles that included tractors and trailers, and to set fire to tyres and other debris that were thrown on the roadway. A utility pole was also used to block the roadway. The police explained that by then the crowd had increased to over 400 persons and efforts by ranks deployed to the scene to get them to remove the vehicles from across the roadway proved futile.

Stripped AFC Councillor Naith Ram

Missiles comprising bricks, bottles and other articles were thrown at police ranks in their attempt to remove the burning obstacles on the roadway, causing them to cease their efforts. The police then arrested Naith Ram, who was leading the protest, at which stage a number of other persons surged forward and accosted the ranks and took him away from the police. The police said that during this incident his clothing was torn and several police ranks were thrown into a nearby trench. The law enforcement body said Naith Ram then stood among the protestors and stripped himself. Several persons took his photograph. He then left the area and later returned in a change of clothing. “The Guyana Police Force emphatically reiterates that Naith Ram was not stripped by police ranks. He took off his own clothing after he had been taken away from the custody of the police by other protestors,” the police emphasized. The police then used tear smoke to clear the unruly crowd and 19 men, including Naith Ram, were arrested. They are still in police custody. Two tractors, four trailers, two motor cars and two motor cycles that were among the vehicles used to block the roadway have been seized by the police. “The Guyana Police Force recognises the rights of citizens to peaceful protest, but when such protests degenerate into a set of unlawful activities that infringe on the rights of other citizens the police will, of necessity, have to take the appropriate action in order to maintain law and order.” Meanwhile the AFC reiterated its support for the protest action by the rice farmers of Essequibo whose right to be paid in a timely manner for their produce cannot be ignored year after year. In this regard the AFC condemns the use of excessive force against peaceful protesters and deployment of soldiers “armed to the teeth.” “This is a clear attempt to prevent farmers from pursuing their democratic and constitutional human rights to association and protest. The AFC considers the release of teargas into the crowd and surrounding community as reckless and unnecessary, and cautions that brute force must never be the first mechanism to ensure law and order,” the AFC stated. And in a belated statement, the Ministry of Home Affairs condemned the Alliance for Change (AFC) for politically manipulating the plight and grievance of rice farmers on the Essequibo Coast and for encouraging a few among the farmers to block the public road on the coast. The Ministry said that it has advised and warned time and again that peaceful protest cannot mean blocking of public roads thus preventing the right of others to proceed without let or hindrance. “Public safety and security must be for all Guyanese and any attempt by a few to inhibit the peaceful and orderly life of law abiding citizens will not be tolerated,” the Ministry stated. It noted that over the past weeks representatives of the AFC have been frequenting the Essequibo Coast encouraging their political activists imbedded in the rice farming community to engage in unlawful acts to disrupt the peace and good order on the Essequibo Coast. The Ministry of Home Affairs said that it has reasons to believe that the protest was politically motivated and orchestrated by the AFC. “The action of the AFC is similar to the politically orchestrated protest by the AFC at Agricola and Linden which resulted in pain rather the gain for the protestors while the AFC leaders were comfortably ensconced in the comfort of their homes and never seen at the scene of the unlawful protests,” the Ministry of Home Affairs.