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