The Rodney commission report should be released without delay
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Dear Editor,
The Justice for Walter Rodney Committee calls on President Granger and the APNU+AFC coalition government to release the report of the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry without further delay. The President and the coalition must recognize the historical significance of this inquiry, not only as a means of bringing closure to an aspect of Guyana’s sad history over the last 50 years, but as a measure that if dealt with properly, can aid the beginnings of the long awaited and lofty ideal of reconciliation, and the expectations of Guyanese at home and abroad for a new beginning. The time is now to begin to put an end to the turbulent politics of division, denial of rights, and state disrespect for the law and the constitution.
Continuance of the state’s disrespect for rules and procedures cannot and should not be countenanced. In Guyana’s long history of Commis-sions of Inquiry into various issues, there have been no disputes about the printing of Commissions of Inquiry Reports. Likewise, there has been no dispute about the courtesy of the Commissioners handing over the report and no mystery about its custody.
There is enough cause for concern that for the first time in Guyana’s history of Commissions of Inquiry the competence of the suppliers of ink has been called into question and the absence of the media from the handing over of the report has been achieved. The question is reasonable whether these unusual features were within the control of the investigating Commissioners or in the hands of the Secretariat for which the subject Minister has responsibility. These issues are so troubling that they should give the President and his cabinet pause, as they send unfavourable signals.
The time is not too late. The authorities in Guyana must without further delay follow established norms and practices and do the morally decent thing: that is, deliver copies of the report to the Rodney family, the lawyers of the parties represented at the inquiry, including the representatives of the WPA and the PNC, and to Members of Parliament. Continual withholding of the report from aggrieved and interested parties is not comprehensible.
The President must act. We ask him therefore to announce the date the report will be released to the family of Walter Rodney, the lawyers who ably participated in the Inquiry, the political parties, and the media. Further, the public must be informed of the date and price at which the report will be put on sale for the public to purchase and read. They are customary steps.
The release of the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry Report would complement the theme (where we came from, who we are, and where we are going as a nation) of the 50th Anniversary Independence celebration. Can we really understand where we came from, who we are, and chart a course forward, if we turn our backs on some of darkest nights of our history?
The unnatural death of Walter Rodney in June 1980 has left an indelible stain on Guyana’s history. There is no exigency or body of circumstances ‒ whether arising from the obligations of government, or the stresses and strains of coalition politics, or the dominance of the PNC in the coalition, or any internal traumas ‒ that can justify any attempt to stifle the unfolding of all the consequences of the publication of the report of the Commission of Inquiry.
As the Justice for Walter Rodney Committee said in a previous statement, if justice is denied to Walter Rodney, an eminent international figure, where and how could the same government that conspires to deny justice in this case find the moral strength to guarantee justice to less well-known victims such as Ronald Waddell, Courtney Crum Ewing, Linden ‘Blackie’ London, George Bacchus and several others?
We see no reason why this report should not be laid before Parliament, especially since every major political party, including the AFC has supported the holding of an inquiry. It must be recalled that the resolution to mount an inquiry was passed by unanimous vote of the National Assembly in 2005 (the PPP abstained on their own motion, and the WPA together with the PNC voted in favour). The calls for national unity being made in Guyana and supported by each component of the APNU+AFC coalition government must come with commitment and moral courage.
In closing, the Justice for Walter Rodney Committee expresses our thanks, and the thanks and gratitude of Guyanese, Caribbean, and global citizens for the hard work and painstaking perseverance of the Commissioners who stuck to the task in the face of all the adversities.
We would also like to thank the lawyers of all the parties involved whose active participation in the process, through piercing and forceful cross-examination of witnesses and deliberative arguments, contributed in a large way to the success of the Inquiry. We thank all the witnesses who came forward and gave evidence either in person or in submitted statements. Without these the Inquiry could not have been completed.
We cannot forget the hard-working Secretariat which did not falter until July 27, 2015 and thereafter when they were resource starved. Without their work this process could not have reached its conclusion.
It goes without saying that we all owe a debt of gratitude to the family of Walter Rodney for their patience, endurance and fortitude for 36 years as they waited for this process to unfold and to give them much-needed answers on why and how their husband, father, brother, and relative met an unnatural death. Finally, based on the evidence and arguments put before the Commission of Inquiry, it became clear that Donald Rodney was unjustly charged and prosecuted, and as such we call for immediate remedy and relief to Donald Rodney.
The developing world needs an example from within its diverse grouping of self-generated reconciliation, as a home for justice for all. The urging of this inquiry by all parties in the parliament, and the support for the call for an inquiry by parties then not in parliament was evidence of a heartening maturity and a credit to all elements of the society.
The Justice for Walter Rodney Committee hopes for a harvest from the seeds sown. It will seek to ensure that no state power can violate human beings with impunity.
Yours faithfully, For Justice for Walter Rodney Committee Andaiye Rohit Kanhai David Hinds Wazir Mohamed
