Joint Opposition Political Parties Launch Dossier to Address

C O N F I D E N T I A L GEORGETOWN 000527 NOFORN SIPDIS AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN PASS TO AMEMBASSY GRENADA E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/11/19 TAGS: PHUM PREL GY SUBJECT: Joint Opposition Political Parties Launch Dossier to Address Human Rights Abuses REF: 09 GEORGETOWN 525 CLASSIFIED BY: Karen L. Williams, Charge d' Affaires, State; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (C) Summary. The Joint Opposition Political Parties (JOPP), comprising the People's National Congress Reform (PNCR),Alliance for Change (AFC),Guyana Action Party (GAP/ROAR),National Front Alliance (NFA) and Working People's Alliance (WPA),held a public meeting November 17 to launch their 2009 Dossier "In Support of an International Inquiry into Grave Human Rights Abuses in Guyana." PNCR Leader Robert Corbin stated that the purpose of the Dossier was to garner support for an international inquiry into on-going human rights abuses. End Summary. ¶2. (C) PNCR Party Leader Robert Corbin stated the purpose of the dossier was to inform the international community and the Guyanese public of the need to establish an independent body with legal authority to address human rights abuses including the October 31 case (see reftel) of a 14-year-old boy tortured by two Guyana Police Force detectives. Corbin stated that although reports of state-sponsored death squads led by Roger Khan and unlawful killings of citizens by security forces were reported in 2002, the dossier was meant to reiterate the human rights abuses that have occurred and are on-going in Guyana and create an international inquiry. Publishing the Dossier is the first step, but "we need public support for an international inquiry," Corbin emphasized. ¶3. (C) Corbin stated that the Guyana Police Force "cannot be trusted" to conduct a fair and impartial investigation of human rights abuses because they themselves are involved in committing many of the crimes. Corbin said that he had approached the Parliament of Guyana to revisit cases of human rights abuses and that he broached the subject with the Secretary General of CARICOM on April 21, 2008. During his meeting with Secretary General Carrington, Corbin stressed the following criticisms of the current administration including: presidential abuse of power, disregard for the rule of law, unwarranted use of brutal force by security agents and unlawful killings of citizens by security forces. ¶4. (U) The 157-page Dossier lists names of individuals targeted and killed by the Black Clothes Squad dating back since 1993. Appendixes 1-3 include lists of extra-judicial and other killings between 1993 and 2009. Attendees included: PNCR Party Leader Robert Corbin, AFC Member of Parliament Raphael Trotman, Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green, GAP Member of Parliament Everall Franklin, and PNCR Member of Parliament Keith W.H. Scott. An electronic version of the Dossier is available with Ken Reiman at reimanko@state.gov. ¶5. (C) COMMENT: Corbin appeared genuinely interested in using the launch of the Dossier to gain media coverage to highlight the October 31 torture case and past human rights abuses. The extent to which the Dossier, however, can meet its intended purpose depends on how effectively the opposition can sustain an effective campaign. END COMMENT. WILLIAMS