COI into extrajudicial killings coming – Harmon

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon told reporters on Friday, January 26, 2018 that a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into killings which occurred between 2000 and 2008 is still on the cards.

He reminded that this was a promise made by Head of State David Granger, positing that “when the President says something, he means it”.

“What the President was saying as the Leader of the Opposition, he was calling on the Government to do something about it. Now he is President and he is in a position to do something about it and I want to assure you that he will do something about it. That’s what he said and when the president says something, he means it,” Harmon stated.

He added, more explicitly, “I am hinting that there is a possibility of a Commission of Inquiry.”

The State Minister expressed that the period is not that long ago and that there will still be information available for a COI.

“This period is not so long ago. There are still people who are out there who were never called upon to give a statement…something has to be done about it,” he stated.

This is not the first time Government spokespersons teased the public about setting up a COI into the extrajudicial killings.

While in Opposition, President Granger in 2014 had tabled a motion in the National Assembly for the establishment of a COI to investigate the incidence of criminal violence in Guyana from 2004 to 2010.

He campaigned on this issue and made several promises to have the COI established.

Last year, President Granger reiterated that this issue is high on his agenda as the families of those who have been killed deserve justice and closure.