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Egregious human rights breaches in Guyana undermine CARICOM

by the Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy

The Mark Benschop treason case in Guyana, described as an "apartheid lynching," has been placed squarely in the court of CARICOM Heads of government once more by the Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID).

Calling on the regional prime ministers to mediate in the case, the institute contended that CARICOM cannot remain silent while political tyranny and racial lynching --- all egregious breaches of fundamental human rights, are perpetrated in Guyana. The New York based think tank also observed that apartheid and the human rights morass in Guyana are engendering instability which is a threat to the stability of the Caribbean region.

"Mark Benschop is a political prisoner. His case is a regional and international ignominy as arbitrary, political detention ranks with genocide as heinous international crimes against humanity. It must therefore receive a most serious inquiry and condemnation from CARICOM." This is the unequivocal message that CGID has conveyed to regional prime ministers in a letter to the current chairman of CARICOM, Prime Minister Owen Arthur of Barbados. The institute labeled the case against Mark Benschop a farce and launched a blistering attack on the People's Progressive Party government's attempts to keep Benschop in prison.

"The government has no evidence to present in a court of law. The DPP, Shalimar Ali-Hack, the Registrar of the Supreme Court and the Chancellor of the Judiciary appear to have compromised their constitutional office by colluding with the PPP to deny Benschop his constitutional right to a trial," the letter stated. It requested the intervention of CARICOM Heads on humanitarian grounds, and noted that as stewards of a community that is bound by respect for human dignity and the rule of law, they must act to honor and safeguard these same rights across the region.

The Institute said that the arrest, inhumane imprisonment and denial of Benschop's right to a trial all violate the Guyana Constitution, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the American Convention on Human Rights.

Benschop, an African Guyanese-American journalist and one time press aide to ex-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, was arrested and charged with treason in Guyana, five years ago, on July 17, 2007. He faces a mandatory sentence of death if convicted. He is being held in solitary confinement, substantially without a trial, under infrahuman conditions. He has been an indefatigable critic of the PPP government and is a political prisoner.

His incarceration stems from an anti-government demonstration protesting the marginalization of Blacks by the Jagdeo administration, at the Office of the President (OP) on July 3, 2002, during the CARICOM Heads of Government Conference in Guyana . The police, in an attempt to crush that demonstration, provoked a riot. Three demonstrators were shot dead by Indian Guyanese presidential guards.

Benschop, who reportedly rushed to the scene to cover the story, publicly condemned the police and the government. President Bharrat Jagdeo claimed that militant Africans, led by Benschop and Phillip Bynoe, a former Member of Parliament, had attempted to overthrow his government, and the Cabinet directed that Benschop and Bynoe be charged with treason. While Benschop was subsequently arrested and charged on July 17, 2002, Bynoe has never been pursued or apprehended.

CGID contends that the indictment is erroneous. It said no prima facie evidence exists or has been presented to support the treason charge. It also said there is indisputable videotaped evidence that shows Benschop arriving on the scene after the shootings occurred and that his attorneys proven his innocence without any doubt.

The New York group has reviewed video recordings of the incident and found that Benschop violated no law, but did exercise his inalienable rights of free speech and freedom of assembly. It said that the only crimes which were committed on July 3, 2002, at the OP were: manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide by the very presidential guards; and disorderly conduct and trespass by some demonstrators. "Benschop never entered the OP compound nor incited the commission of a crime," CGID maintained

CGID has labeled proceedings in the case a "kangaroo process," arguing that the determination of probable cause to indict Benschop was arrogated by the Cabinet, in violation of the constitution. "Political manipulation of the judicial process, in order to secure a conviction and/or delay the trial, has been pervasive. The racist Indian PPP government has attempted to undermine the integrity of every African Guyanese involved with the case. At the Preliminary Inquiry (PI), the presiding judge, Chief Magistrate Juliet Holder-Allen, an African Guyanese, was unlawfully removed and replaced by an Indian Guyanese Magistrate, Chandra Sohan."

The institute contended that when the case was tried by Justice Winston Moore, an African Guyanese in 2003, eleven of twelve jurors voted for an acquittal but one Indian Guyanese juror held out for a conviction. Hence, Justice Moore declared a mistrial and ordered a new trial. It also accused Attorney General Doodnauth Singh of clandestinely undermining the trial and Justice More, by filing a bogus complaint with the Judicial Service Commission, against the judge, while the matter was sub judice. The complaint was then forwarded to Justice Moore for a defense, during the trial, in violation of the law," the body insisted.

When the then Director of Public Prosecutions Roxanne George attempted to initiate the process for the retrial, PPP attorneys allegedly conspired with allies in the judiciary to file, and were granted, a constitutional motion mandating cases be tried in chronological order. Justice Jarnarayne Singh granted that motion, which also enjoined the DPP from proceeding to trial with the Benschop case, causing a two year delay. The Court of Appeal threw out Justice Singh's decision two years later.

The CGID also observed that on February 21, 2003, Supreme Court Justice Jarnarayne Singh ruled that: "Mark Benschop did not kill or assault anyone, damage property or enter OP at all, neither did he possess any weapon or explosive or attend any meeting where the police alleged Bynoe spoke. Benschop was never seen in touching distance of Bynoe or with Bynoe at all." "This is the uncontested finding of fact by the Supreme Court. Yet, this case lingers on and Benschop languishes in jail," it stressed.

CGID told PM Arthur that pursuant the Laws of Guyana Chapter 8:01, Section 318 and extant case law in the Commonwealth jurisprudence, in order to charge treason, the DPP must possess a preponderance of evidence that establishes a prima facie case that unconditionally satisfies (I) Conspiracy (II) Intent to overthrow the government by force and possession of arms, and (III) The commission or attempt to commit an overt act that manifests that prior intent. The organization said that he DPP cannot overcome this burden.

The institute also argued that the government's own indictment exposed its evil intent, as it charged Benschop with conspiring with "other persons" who remain unknown to both Benschop and the government." The letter noted that unless Benschop himself confessed, and he has not, or unless the government has testimony from a professed witness to this conspiracy, and there is none because Bynoe has never been apprehended nor interrogated to substantiate such an indictment, the government's claim of knowledge of a conspiracy is obscene. "It is morally and legally impermissible for the government to indict someone for treason on a tenuous, oxymoronic conspiracy theory," CGID stressed.

Bernal, Dissent and violence
Gutman, Has America lost its moral compass?
Amnesty International, China lags in implementing human rights promises
Nasser, Gaza beyond the humanitarian and political perspectives
Weisbrot, The western mainstream media and Venezuela
Carmona, Climate change in Latin America and the Caribbean
Pilgrim, Another hurricane season in the Caribbean
Denis, Defending the interests of small states

Kellberg & Duncan, Haiti's cautious government

Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy, Repression in Guyana is a CARICOM issue

Schaeffer & Sánchez, Why Paraguay matters
Schaeffer, A scandal a day in Brazil while Lula was away

Lauer, The CAFTA referendum in Costa Rica

Jackson, Now that they're killing people...