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Guyana: Links between Afro-Guyanese gangs/criminals and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and/or the People's National Congress Reform (PNC/R) (2003-April 2004)

News sources from 2002, 2003 and 2004 reported that the People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government has repeatedly accused the PNC/R, without identifying race, of collaborating with criminals and criminal gangs, a charge that the latter has consistently denied (World Press Review Dec. 2002; AP 29 Aug. 2003; BBC International 27 Mar. 2004; Guyana Chronicle 17 Apr. 2004). In August 2003, the Associated Press (AP) reported that during a trip to India, President Bharrat Jagdeo had accused the PNC/R of fuelling a past 18-month violent crime spree (29 Aug. 2003). Without providing names, President Jagdeo declared that his government had evidence that opposition PNC/R leaders encouraged young people to take up criminal activities (AP 29 Aug. 2003). In response, the PNC/R general secretary rebuked this claim, stating that it was unfounded (ibid.).

In March 2004, the leader of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon said that the recent upsurge in criminality in the lower east coast of Guyana corresponded with increased PNC/R activity, and predicted that all PNC/R-sponsored actions will likely be violent (BBC International 27 Mar. 2004). PNC/R Chief Whip, Lance Carberry responded to this accusation by holding the PPP/C government responsible for mismanaging the renewal, since 2003, of rampant crime (ibid.).

In an April 2004 news story, Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj stated that there were "clear indications" that the PNC/R had links with criminal elements, noting that several PNC/R members frequented the town of Buxton, an area well-known for criminal activity (Guyana Chronicle 17 Apr. 2004). As well, Minister Gajraj claimed that the police found the cell phone number of PNC/R leader Robert Corbin on the person of a criminal suspect at the time of arrest (ibid.).

Reliable information about connections between the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and criminals or criminal gangs was limited among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate; however, in a November 2003 editorial, the Guyana Chronicle stated that rogue elements within the GPF were apparently known to collaborate with criminals (21 Nov. 2003). The International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 2003 (INCSR 2003) also claimed, without providing names or a date, that the GPF had sworn in a "reputed drug lord and several of his cohorts as special constables" (1 Mar. 2004). As of March 2004, the INCSR 2003 further noted that corruption has apparently penetrated senior levels of government and that this situation has persisted with impunity (ibid.). In February 2004, the publisher of the Guyanese independent newspaper, Stabroek News, stated that his reporters would not investigate the "alleged nexus of drugs, militias, and government corruption" due to the perilous nature of the subject (Miami Herald 8 Feb. 2004).

For more information about police and criminality in Guyana, please see the Research Directorate's July 2003 Issue Paper Guyana: Criminal Violence and Police Response, and GUY42583.E of 20 April 2004 about the ethnic composition of a police special forces unit and whether this unit targets particular ethnic groups. In addition, a January 2004 report on UN Special Rapporteur Mr. Doudou Diene's mission to Guyana provides information about contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance at the following Website: <http://www.unhchr.ch/huridocda/huridoca.nsf/0/EA5E4E3803879AE9C1256E61003C2C0D/$File/G0410124.doc?OpenElement>.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Associated Press (AP). 29 August 2003. Bert Wilkinson. "Opposition Leaders Deny Government Claims They Incite Violence in Guyana." (Dialog)

BBC International Reports. 27 March 2004. "Guyana: Main Political Parties Blame Each Other For Crime Problem." (Dialog)

Guyana Chronicle [Georgetown]. 17 April 2004. "Crime, National Security Top Govt. Priorities This Year." <http://www.guyanachronicle.com/ARCHIVES/archive%20%2017-04-04.html> [Accessed 29 Apr. 2004]

____. 21 November 2003. "Taking a Closer Look at Crime." <http://www.landofsixpeoples.com/news304/nc31121.htm> [Accessed 28 Apr. 2004]

International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 2003. 1 March 2004. United States Department of State. Washington DC. <http://www.state.gov/g/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2003/vol1/html/29834.htm> [Accessed 28 Apr. 2004]

Miami Herald. 8 February 2004. Gaiutra Bahadur. "Drug Shipments Slip Easily Across Unguarded Borders." (Knight Ridder News Service) <http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/7902650.htm?1c> [Accessed 29 Apr. 2004]

World Press Review [Muscatine, Iowa]. December 2002. Denis Chabrol. "Guyana: Targeting Terrorism." <http://www.worldpress.org/article_model.cfm?article_id=905&dont=yes> [Accessed 29 Apr. 2004]

Additional Sources Consulted

Internet sites: Amnesty International, Country Reports 2003, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch.