The GHRA yesterday expressed deep dismay over the role being played by the United States in extradition proceedings against Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed and said there is concern here that the Guyana Government is using Washington to help rid it of its principal opponent.
“It bears recalling that the legal representation of the USA in the extradition proceedings is being paid for by the Government of Guyana, which has a partisan interest in the matter in view of the political challenge of Mr Mohamed and his WIN party to the continued paramountcy of the PPP.
“It also bears recalling that the allegations against Mr Azruddin Mohamed and his father in the extradition proceedings relate to acts which took place in Guyana, rather than the USA. There is concern in Guyana that the PPP Government is using the American government to get rid of its principal opposition”, the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) said in a statement yesterday.
It said that it has already condemned the decision of Magistrate Abigail Gibbs, last Friday, 30 October, to deny bail to Mohamed in a matter merely involving Mohamed’s acquisition and circulation of the video recording of a shooting incident in which, to say the least, there are disputed versions of who fired shots at whom.
In the extradition proceedings before Chief Magistrate Judy Latchman on November 2nd, the GHRA said that counsel representing the interest of the USA made several unproven allegations against Mohamed and is reportedly appealing the decision of the Chief Magistrate not to rescind the bail of Mr Mohamed.
“Counsel for the USA has taken on the role of a prosecutor rather than of an officer of the law watching over the interests of the USA. When, and to what extent does watching over the interests of the USA transform itself into the role of a prosecutor bearing in mind that the counsel involved is being paid for by the Government of Guyana?”, the GHRA asked.
The human rights group charged that the conduct of the legal representatives of the USA in this matter give cause for the deepest concern from the point of view of the proper administration of justice.
“First, is it proper for the USA to take on the role of prosecutor in this matter, or is legal representation of the USA meant to watch over its interest. What standards of propriety should be expected from legal counsel for the USA?
“Second, is the USA doing the bidding of the Government of Guyana in the process of what is emerging as the persecution of Mr. Azruddin Mohamed who has been followed, harassed, arrested on spurious grounds, charged with what might be trumped-up charges, denied bail, kept in solitary confinement, and openly threatened from within the Guyana Police Force?
“Third, who should play the role of guardian of legality and justice when the Government of Guyana and the Government of the USA are colluding in the persecution of Guyana’s Leader of the Opposition”, the human rights body asked.
The GHRA called upon the Government of the USA to reconsider its role in this matter. It also called urgently on the International Commission of Jurists, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to act urgently for the defence of legality and justice in Guyana and for the protection of Guyana’s leader of the Opposition, his sisters and parents. It also encouraged local civil bodies, especially the Guyana Bar Association to maintain active monitoring of a case with pivotal implications for Guyana’s legal system and national independence.
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