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GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) – A call has been made for a Commission of Inquiry to be held into a surveillance operation carried out by the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) that led to the death three persons last month.
The incident took place on December 30 when a GDF sergeant Robert Pyle chased a car that was mistakenly identified as being associated with the head of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICL), Winston Brassington .
But the occupants of the car – were actually Brassington’s neighbours and it is believed that the agents of the Special Organised Crime Unit may have been staking out the wrong house.
The house was occupied by Alana Seebarran and her husband, Charles Ramson Jr.
The driver of the car Seebarran’s brother – managed to escape from a road-block set up by the GDF intelligence agents’ vehicles, and a high-speed chase ensued that resulted in a fatal collision with a truck .
Pyle, his wife and the truck driver were killed.
The Seebarrans immediately reported their encounter to police.
In a statement Sunday, the Bar Association said the deaths and their surrounding circumstances are cause for the gravest concern among citizens, since it has now been confirmed that at the time of the officer’s death he was engaged “in a surveillance operation which it is now known was directed at a public servant who is on leave”.
“The Bar Association believes that an explanation is required for the use of GDF officers to engage in such activities and the legality thereof. Operational control of the Defence Force vests solely in the Chief of Staff, but subject to the general or specific directions of the President. The Defence Force is charged with the defence of and maintenance of order in Guyana and with such other duties defined by the Defence Board”, the Association said.
But during a media interview last week, President David Granger shot down suggestions that the GDF ought not to be involved in operations with the Guyana Police Force and other law enforcement agencies.
The Bar Association also wants the Minister of Public Security to explain the details of “Operation Dragnet”, which is a joint services operation currently underway to tackle the current crime situation and any possible terrorist threat.
The operation is expected to continue until June, 2016.
