(Kaieteur News) – The Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) on Saturday raised concerns over President Irfaan Ali’s plan to unilaterally name the membership of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the MV Barima disaster, warning that a body appointed solely by the executive cannot be seen as impartial by a public still grieving one of the country’s worst peacetime tragedies.

The concerns followed President Irfaan Ali stating on Saturday that he will announce the members of a COI on Sunday.

In a statement issued by its Executive Committee, the GHRA said the announcement “was not unexpected” and confirmed fears that the inquiry could become “another instance of institutionalized political debauchery,” with those responsible for the disaster effectively controlling the narrative around their own failures. The organisation stressed that no matter how qualified the nominees, appointment by the very authorities with the most to lose from an impartial probe undermines public confidence from the outset.