Human Rights body approaches UN for forensic experts to probe WCB murders

The Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) has approached the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Guyana, Mikiko Tanaka, with a view of having international forensic experts investigate the recent heinous murders of young men in West Coast Berbice (WCB).
In making the announcement via a statement on Thursday, the GHRA said the UN is currently reviewing its request as well as the “logistical implications of it”.
The young men who have been brutally murdered are cousins 16-year-old Isaiah Henry and 19-year-old Joel Henry, as well as 17-year-old Haresh Singh.
According to the Human Rights body, the chief purpose of this initiative is to provide the families and the entire country with a trustworthy version of the events surrounding the murders “in order to counter the problem that every political incident in Guyana generates two narratives”.
The human rights group explained that “without an impartial version of the truth, acceptable to all right-minded Guyanese, these events will inevitably join the catalogue of unresolved atrocities embedded in Guyanese ethnic folklore. Such events are never allowed to be conclusively buried. They survive in a mythical realm leaving the listener unsure whether the event had occurred in the 1960s, 1997, 2003 and so on.”
The organisation also explained that the international forensic investigation aims to bring the society “to recognise how close to the precipice we, as a society, have brought ourselves.”
“While instinctive horror at the murders is widespread across ethnic divides, no one, particularly the political leaderships, can claim to be really shocked. All thinking Guyanese have spent the last five months fearful that reckless political rhetoric, inflamed by the pernicious use of social media, would ignite this tit-for-tat vigilante justice – our modern-day version of “lynching,” the GHRA explained.
Thirdly, the organisation noted that the assistance from the international community will “serve as a confidence-building measure to re-assure ourselves that we can bring crises of this nature to a peaceful resolution”.
Additionally, the Association said the forensic expertise will boost the investigation of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), specifically, “to have the back-up of independent international expertise to ascertain the circumstances of the murders and to facilitate the implementation of the process of justice”.
The GHRA added that another aim of this initiative is preventative, noting that a visit of this nature would inject an impartial international element into the situation, deterring any momentum towards a greater national crisis.
However, the organisation noted that a number of conditions have to be met for a visit of this nature to occur. Some are specific to United Nations involvement since Guyana is a Member State while other requirements would apply to experts from any source. These include authorisation by the Government; access to medical records; authorisation to conduct an independent autopsy which requires access to a medical lab and all that goes with it; permission from the family; security assessment for possible need to protect the expert; coordination with the police and Judiciary; collaboration from local, legal and medical actors; access to any independent local investigation; cooperation from relevant civil society actors; and responsible support from the mainstream press and social media.
The police had initially arrested seven persons for the murders of the Henry boys. But on Thursday, four of those suspects were released on station bail after their 72-hour detention period had expired.
In relation to the murder of Singh, as of Thursday, no arrest has yet been made.
The badly-mutilated bodies of the Henry boys were discovered in a backdam in West Berbice on Sunday while the body of Singh was found in another backdam on Wednesday.
All three teens suffered brutal deaths. The Henry boys died as a result of haemorrhage and shock, and their spines were severed. Singh died as a result of a brain haemorrhage, blunt trauma to the head, compounded by compression injuries to the neck.
As it relates to the autopsy performed on the bodies of the Henry boys, the family’s lawyer, Nigel Hughes, took photos and videos, which he has since indicated he will be sending to overseas experts for further evaluation.
President Dr Irfaan Ali has also announced that he will be seeking international help to probe the murders as well as the unrest which followed.
In an address to the nation on Wednesday, President Ali said he will be reaching out to the British Government and the Regional Security System to come to Guyana in support of the Police Force’s investigative capacity.
The Head of State also announced that he was exploring the commissioning of an International Commission of Inquiry (CoI) “to look at every aspect of this situation, to look beyond what took place on the ground, to look at the behaviours that came about as a result of statements made”.
And thirdly, President Ali said he has asked Attorney General Anil Nandlall to explore, within the United Nations system, all means available to hold to account all those who spread race hate and instigate racial strife. (G11)