The PNCR/APNU and Forward Guyana Movement have called for an independent investigation into the death of Gavin Kennard Douglas following his detention at the Vreed-en-Hoop Police Station, saying the post-mortem findings demand urgent and credible answers.
In a statement yesterday, the PNCR/APNU called for all CCTV footage, station records, medical reports and other relevant evidence to be secured immediately.
“The investigation must be free from police interference, and anyone found responsible for wrongdoing must face the full force of the law,” it stated.
Douglas, 32, died on October 31 after being taken into police custody. Police announced yesterday that a post-mortem examination performed by Government Pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh determined that he died from brain haemorrhage due to blunt trauma. Two Taser studs were removed from his body and lodged as exhibits.
Four ranks stationed at Vreed-en-Hoop were arrested and were being held at the Tactical Services Unit as the Office of Professional Responsibility continued its investigation. The Force pledged a thorough, impartial and transparent probe.
The PNCR/APNU said the reported head trauma and other injuries raised serious questions about Douglas’s treatment.
“A citizen who enters police custody must leave alive and unharmed. The State has a fundamental responsibility to protect every individual placed in its care,” it said.
The grouping argued that allegations of police brutality, excessive force and deaths involving law enforcement had become a disturbing feature under the PPP/C government. It contended that a growing perception of abuse of authority was undermining public confidence in institutions responsible for protecting citizens.
“The Government cannot continue to offer assurances of investigations while families are left grieving and those responsible for abuses of authority escape accountability,” it stated.
It called on the Minister of Home Affairs and the government to accept responsibility for ensuring that law enforcement agencies operate within the law and respect citizens’ rights and dignity.
The PNCR/APNU also urged Guyanese, regardless of political, racial or religious affiliation, to speak out against abuses of authority.
“The right to life and protection under the law must never become privileges,” it said.
On Sunday, Forward Guyana called for an investigation independent of the police force into the death, arguing that the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) cannot impartially investigate ranks within its own organisation.
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Forward Guyana called for a prompt coroner’s inquest, the immediate preservation of station records and CCTV footage, and the removal of the ranks involved from frontline duty pending the outcome.
Forward Guyana’s statement preceded the announcement of the arrests and post-mortem findings.
Citing the police’s initial account, the movement said Douglas was taken to the station at approximately 11.36 am, restrained by ranks at about noon after allegedly resisting, and found frothing at the mouth in the lockups at approximately 12.45 pm. He died at the West Demerara Regional Hospital.
“Whatever he was accused of, Gavin Douglas was presumed innocent. He was in the custody of the State, which owed him a duty to protect his life and his welfare,” the movement stated.
It argued that the police’s explanation did not account for how Douglas came to be in medical distress less than an hour after being restrained.
Extending condolences to his relatives, the movement said the family deserved the truth about what had happened.
Attorney Dexter Todd, who said he observed the post-mortem examination, has also called for the matter to be investigated as a possible murder.
Todd said the examination revealed extensive trauma to Douglas’s body, including injuries to the head and abdomen. He attributed the fatal head injury to blunt trauma and maintained that the injuries were not self-inflicted.
He also referred to the removal of two Taser studs from the body and raised concerns about the use of the device. While police confirmed that the studs had been recovered, their statement did not specify how often a Taser had been discharged or for how long it had been used.
Todd called for swift action against those responsible, saying the evidence required a criminal investigation.
Forward Guyana, meanwhile, questioned the independence of the OPR probe, pointing out that the unit operates within the same police command structure as the ranks whose conduct is under scrutiny.
“The investigation into his death cannot be left to the police,” it stated. “The Office of Professional Responsibility is a unit of the Guyana Police Force, sitting within the same chain of command as the ranks whose conduct is in question.”
“That is the police investigating themselves, and no family nor the Guyanese public can be expected to accept its conclusions,” it added.
The Movement cited Article 154A of the Constitution and provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture in support of its demand. It argued that the obligations to protect life and impartially investigate suspected torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment required scrutiny outside the Force.
Forward Guyana also criticised Home Affairs Minister Oneidge Walrond’s response, saying her acknowledgement of the State’s responsibility for persons in custody and the seriousness of the allegations strengthened the case for an independent investigation.
Walrond had extended condolences to Douglas’s family and said their need for answers must be recognised.
“When someone is taken into police custody, the state assumes the responsibility for that person’s safety and well-being,” she said.
The minister said the allegations surrounding Douglas’s death were serious and could not be dismissed, while stressing that the evidence must establish what occurred.
She said she expected the OPR investigation to be thorough, impartial and conducted urgently.
“There must be accountability wherever the evidence leads. If wrongdoing is established, appropriate action must follow,” Walrond stated.
Forward Guyana contended, however, that an expectation of impartiality did not resolve the institutional concerns surrounding the investigation.
“Impartiality cannot be ordered into a unit of the very Force whose ranks are under scrutiny,” it stated.
The movement criticised what it described as the absence of specific commitments from the minister.
“Every commitment in her statement is in the passive voice. The facts must be established. Accountability must follow. Justice must be allowed to take its course. Not once does the Minister say what she will do,” it said.
It argued that Walrond should have outlined steps to secure evidence, remove the ranks concerned from frontline duties and place the investigation beyond the reach of the Force.
Forward Guyana called on President Irfaan Ali’s government to transfer the investigation to an independent body and make its findings public. Its demands also included allowing the family an independent pathologist at the post-mortem, securing all relevant CCTV recordings, station diaries and lockup records, and naming the ranks involved.
“The burden of explaining this death lies on the State, not on a grieving family,” the movement said.
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