Opposition Challenges Govt Over Police Custody Death, MV Barima Tragedy and Mohamed’s Detention

By Mark DaCosta- Guyana’s public institutions are losing the trust of the people they are meant to serve, and only genuinely independent oversight can restore it. That was the central argument of the A Partnership for National Unity and the People’s National Congress Reform (APNU/PNCR) at a press conference on November 6. The coalition linked a death in police custody, the unanswered grief of MV Barima families and the remand of the Opposition Leader as evidence that fair process and transparency cannot be optional.

The coalition spoke of “a deeper unease in our country”. It argued that the bereaved, the power-starved and the accused all want the same thing: equal treatment under the law. Lindeners’ protests over unreliable electricity and water, it said, belong to the same pattern. In its words, “Lindeners are living dark lives with no electricity and water.”

Full coverageGavin Douglas Dies in Police Custody at Vreed-en-Hoop Station22 reports

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The sharpest criticism was reserved for the police. Gavin Douglas, 32, a labourer from West Coast Demerara, died on October 31 after being held at the Vreed-en-Hoop station. A post-mortem found a brain haemorrhage caused by blunt trauma. Police have since placed six ranks under arrest, and the Office of Professional Responsibility is widening its inquiry. Home Affairs Minister Oneidge Walrond has promised a thorough and impartial investigation. No one has yet been charged.