Guyana Observer News

Dr. Richard Van West Charles - Libibation Ceremony

Monday, 03 August 2009

I wish to thank the Ifa House of Santeria for inviting me on the occasion of the 171st Anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery. I consider this an honour from an association that has the well being and welfare of Guyanese of African descent as a primary focus and concern. I believe that this focus is entirely justified as it seems to be the policy of the current Regime to target and profile young Guyanese of African descent. It is no accident that most of those arrested and tortured for the alleged firebombing of the Ministry of Health are mostly Guyanese of African descent. And I read to my dismay and disgust that just before the last Congress of the People’s Progressive Party several young Guyanese of African descent were picked up and intimidated. All of these things suggest that the PPP or the Jagdeo Regime is well on its way to creating a fascist regime in which Guyanese of African descent will become an endangered species. I, therefore, would like to urge you tonight to redouble our efforts to protect the young Guyanese of African descent, three hundred (300) of whom have already been the victims of death squads and the inhuman policies of the Jagdeo Regime.

It tells you something of the state of degeneration that we have reached that the Head of State according to a Kaieteur News report of 31 July 2009 “admitted that the security forces have used “excessive force” in the past in attempt to extort information from arrested persons.” It is amazing that such an admission can be made without any corresponding assertion as to how this would be brought to an end. It is also an admission that torture has been used as the means of extracting information from those who have been arrested for various offences in Guyana. But this is a backward policy. As recent events, such as the torture of Iraqi prisoners by American forces, have proven torture does not provide the kind of information that can lead to a successful prosecution of any illegal act. I must also point to the fact that the recent revelations in a Court of New York during the trial of Robert Simels, have revealed that the Jagdeo Regime bought the “spy” computer which was instrumental in causing the deaths of over 300 young Guyanese, mostly those of African descent. It was clearly stated that the Minister of Health, Mr.. Leslie Ramsammy was the agent of the Regime in purchasing the computer. The Jagdeo Regime therefore has blood on its hands. The PPP/C Government has lost its legitimacy and must resign immediately. I note here that it was also revealed that Selwyn Vaughn one of the main witnesses in the trial admitted that Roger Khan ordered the death of Mr. Ronald Waddell. Now Roger Khan has admitted that he was working for the Jagdeo Regime in helping to fight crime. We must therefore conclude that this Regime has more than a passing knowledge of the death of Ronald Waddell.

In a sense we are all standing on holy ground. For the Square of the Revolution not only commemorates the Leader of the 1763 Revolution, Cuffy. As described in our history, Cuffy and his fellow slaves waged a crucial struggle against the barbarities of Dutch slavery and succeeded at one moment in its struggle of establishing his own state. Everything pointed to the success of that Revolution. However, disunity and squabbling among the leaders, among other things, brought it to grief. I submit to you tonight as we celebrate the 171st Anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery that we take to heart the lessons of the 1763 Revolution.

We must unite as a people if we are to maintain our dignity and freedom. I submit to you further that we must not lose sight of the fact that this Revolution laid the foundation for the freedom that we won finally on the 26 May 1966. That freedom is now under threat from the Regime which is prepared to trample on the dignity and the rights of our people with the help of out of control sections of the security forces. This is good an occasion as any for us to raise our collective voices against the torturing of our citizens and the detention and charging of our innocent brothers and sisters. Before I proceed any further to discuss the significant of the 1763 Revolution and the Abolition of Slavery, I would like to take a few moments to discuss the plight of several members of the African Cultural Development Association (ACDA). I refer to the detention of Mr. Heston Bostwick and Mr. Archie Poole, both of whom have courageously defended the rights of their fellow citizens. And here I must emphasize that I am not ignoring the cases of people like Mr. Troy Small, who was hideously tortured, or the arrest of Mr. Clayton Westford and Mr. Tedena Bagot, or Mr. Keith Ferrier or the attempt to implicate the former Chief Magistrate, Ms. Juliet Holder-Allen.

It has not escaped many of the citizens that Mr. Heston Bostwick has been a vocal and committed human rights activist, who had formed the Justice for Jermaine Committee to protest the killing of that young man, Jermaine Wilkinson. Equally, it has not been lost on most of us that Mr. Archie Poole is also a fighter for justice. It seems that the Regime is bent on operating an environment of fear with “phantom squads” with more or less the similar capacity used by the criminals of the likes of Polpot, Pinochet, etc. This racist Regime seems bent on moving its agenda of institutional apartheid and at the same time seek to silence those who speak out against the injustice of our society and the violation of rights, rights conferred on them by the noble struggle of our African ancestors. I wish to acknowledge tonight the contribution that these two individuals have made to the struggle for human dignity in this nation and to urge you all to do all within your power to ensure that they are not railroaded by this Regime. One of the small steps we can take is to take an oath tonight that we will fight against the attempts of the state to trample on the human rights of our citizens and torture those whom they regard as “the lesser breed without the law.”

I mentioned some time ago the need for unity among ourselves and indeed among all the citizens of this country. One of the unsavory features of the period of slavery were those who were encouraged by the members of the plantocracy to deliberately undermine the struggle of our ancestors for freedom and dignity. I am speaking of the house slaves in our midst. We have some in our midst today. There are many who are prepared to sell their birthright for a mess of pottage. It is necessary that we identify and understand those people and to make sure that as we take the struggle for freedom forward that they are not allowed to destroy our work or programme as those in earlier time undermined Cuffy’s successful revolution. We have a duty to resist these enemies of our purpose and our people. These people have inserted themselves or made themselves available for top positions in the trade unions, Government Ministries and other organisations so that they can participate in the evil activity of subverting the interests of the people of Guyana.

An important lesson that we must learn from the period of slavery is the steadfastness and the determination of our African ancestors in the face of a most daunting situation. It means that when we are similarly challenged at this moment in our history, we must not flinch. Our tools must be sharper and resilient. These are difficult times in both the economic and political terms. However, if we take to heart the lessons of our African ancestors as they struggled for freedom, we too can understand that there can be victory at the end of a long period of struggle. If there is one thing that we have learnt in this country is that freedom is not easily attained or maintained. We must understand also that freedom is an important ingredient to create the kind of society we need and in which the dignity of the human being can take root. It must be protected at all cost. Our ancestors have left us an imperishable legacy. They have bequeathed to us a culture of hard work, thrift, commitment to education, and respect and tolerance of other ethnic groups. It is a legacy that we must continue to build on so that Guyana can remain a place in which the hope for a better and more humane society can never be snuffed out. They have also taught us to fight to protect these values.

I believe, and I do not think that I am wrong, but I sense that the Guyanese of African descent community is celebrating this particular anniversary of the Emancipation of Slavery with greater verve and understanding of the challenges facing the community. One of them is the high level of unemployment among Guyanese of African descent. It might be as high as 40%. Not only is unemployment a curse but it gets even worse when it comes to the awards of contracts. You must have noticed that only recently contracts were awarded in the agricultural sector and these were published in the Kaieteur News. Go back and read that list. You will see that most of the contracts were awarded to the friends and supporters of the PPP. And this is an important point that we must not lose sight of. The resources of the state are being increasingly awarded to the friends and supporters of the PPP. I declare here tonight that the struggles of our ancestors, the blood and sweat that they have expended on the development of this country, entitle them to an equitable share of the resources of the state. However, I believe that this is not sufficient for us to protest but to sit down and work out programmes which could benefit our people. In particular, we must work hard to ensure that plans are put in place to reduce the high level of poverty among Guyanese of African descent.

Equally, when it comes to the beating and the torturing of Guyanese of African descent we must also move boldly on this front. There are many tools available to us. We have some information of incidents where the security forces are guilty of torturing young Guyanese of African descent. We have sufficient evidence of such illegal practices. We must now proceed to submit charges against this Regime to the United Nations, the Organisation of American States, the Caribbean Community and Human Rights Non-Governmental Organisations, such as Amnesty International. We must pursue this course of action with the full knowledge that our efforts will bear fruit and contribute to the demise of this racist regime. You must agree with me that the seriousness of the condition of our community dictates that the talking time must end now and action must begin.

It remains for me to commend your organisation for the work it has been doing over the years and it is my hope that you will continue your good work in the future. Let us co-operate not only to bring benefits to the Guyanese of African descent but Guyanese of all ethnic groups who have recognized that the time has come to bring an end to the political and economic degeneration of our society and lay the foundation for a prosperous future. We have an obligation to the young members in our midst to ensure that they receive a good education, live a healthy life and become involved in the process of building a stable and secure Guyana.

Dr. Richard Van West-Charles
July 31st 2009

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