| By Sunita SamarooTestifying before the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the death of Dr. Walter Rodney, General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Clement Rohee, yesterday said that the politician’s killing was, without question, an act of State-sponsored terrorism.Rohee, current Minister of Home Affairs and a long-standing member of the party, made his second appearance before the Commission yesterday to continue offering his evidence in chief.PPP General Secretary, Clement Rohee in the witness stand yesterday.Dr. Rodney, a scholar,Cheap Soccer Jerseys, social activist and co-founder of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), was killed in an explosion on June 13, 1980. At the time of Rodney’s death, Rohee said that he was out of Guyana.He served the PPP as a member of the Central Committee from 1978 to 1980. Rohee told the Commissioners that when the Ministry of National Development was destroyed by fire on July 14, 1979, several opposition activists were rounded up and charged with arson.Among them, he recalled, were Rodney and WPA activist Karen De Souza, but none of his party members had been arrested.According to Rohee, two days after the arson Ulric Pilgrim and Clarence Pryce, two top Commanders of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) were removed. Attempting to explain the move,Wholesale Jerseys Online, Rohee said that it was widely held in influential quarters at the time that the WPA had penetrated the military.Rohee told the Commissioners that the then People’s National Congress (PNC) administration was of the view that the penetration could not have happened, unless it was being facilitated by the military’s hierarchy.The defence and police force, Rohee said, were under “tight control” at the time and the move to shake-up the army was seen by those in the Opposition circles and “many who were not formally in the Opposition but associated with the struggle” as a move to gain greater control of the military.By extension, Rohee viewed this as a means of weeding out the WPA, which was suspected to have influence in the army.Harassed, Victimized and ArrestedThe Minister recalled that PPP and the WPA faced serious surveillance from the then ruling administration and had been subjected to public attacks and harassment in various forms.According to him,Wholesale Jerseys China, thugs from the House of Israel and the Death Squad were unleashed with greater frequency on the political opposition.“All this was happening at the time when there were moves to change the constitution.” Rohee explained there was a push for democracy and moves were apace to mobilize and educate people.He said that as a result of the constant holding of these public meetings, there was a more frequent response from the administration to break up the public meetings.Rohee told the Commissioners of one such meeting which was held on North Road and Orange Walk, Bourda. The wrath of the thugs was unleashed on Gail Teixeira,Wholesale Authentic Jerseys, who functioned as Personal Assistant to Dr. Cheddi Jagan during 1978 – 1980,Wholesale Cheap Jerseys, he said.He said that Teixeira, now Chief Whip, was mistaken for Janet Jagan, wife of the then PPP’s Leader, Cheddi Jagan. According to him, she was chased up a road, cornered and dealt several lashes by the group.Rohee went on to say that there was no doubt that the thugs from House of Israel and Death Squad came directly from the PNC headquarters. Supporting his point, the Minister said too that at the time the thugs moved in PNC vehicles. He emphasised that there was no “need for an emblem to be placed on the vehicles for them to be identified.”He said that his party suffered immensely during that period.Rohee believed that the amicable relationship shared between the WPA and PPP fostered the perception that they were working to remove the government of the day.He said, too, that frequent searches were conducted on the homes of party members. Rohee recalled that one such search led to the former President, Cheddi Jagan being arrested and charged with the possession of ammunition. The case was dismissed at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, he said.Rohee affirmed that supporters were harassed,Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys, victimized and arrested. “There was a way of doing these types of activities and everyone known or seen to be opposing the government” would be subjected to the harassment.He said that the harassment even extended to those in the Guyanese diaspora.Rodney’s Death“People were under a tremendous degree of stress. The nation suffered from food shortages, long lines outside of supermarkets and groceries. The economic and social condition that prevailed was one which made people want change.”The General Secretary claimed that the then government did not have the answers and they were in the process of negotiating with International bodies for relief.Rohee told the Commission that he had no doubt that the government of the day was responsible for Rodney’s death. He said that was glaring when you examine the way Gregory Smith was aided out of Guyana after Rodney’s death.Smith, then a sergeant in the Guyana Defence Force, had reportedly given Walter the bomb that killed him. After the killing, Smith had later taken asylum in French Guiana.The Minister said that Smith was an agent of the administration working within the GDF. Rohee surmised that the way Smith left Guyana could have only been done with the assistance of the Government who had great control at the time.Rohee, in examining the “resources used for Smith’s movement” after Rodney died, said for a person to move so freely to an isolated location where an aircraft was waiting to take him out, “would happen no other way than through the use of state resources.”Rohee told the Commission that the government did everything in its power to cover up Rodney’s death.The Commission heard that nothing could’ve been published by certain media outfits without the administration’s approval. He said, “Something happened…a bomb exploded and a great political figure was killed but no credible answer was ever given.”“Guyana was not a democracy; everything was under total control,” Rohee said. According to him, then Prime Minister and leader of the PNC, Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham was a man known to be in control of things and “anyone who stepped out of the line had to face his wrath.”“There are no words to explain the situation in those days,” he said, adding that the PNC and its leader were responsible for Rodney’s death.Rohee, in his testimony, called it an act of state-sponsored terrorism. “The way he was killed and the fact that it drove terror in the hearts of the people in our country,” were points he used to substantiate his claim.“What took place was a clear and unequivocal act of state sponsored terrorism,” he emphasized.The Effects of Rodney’s DeathContinuing, Rohee said the PPP he admitted suffered a setback from Rodney’s death. “Many people felt defeated; that we couldn’t win an election under that ruling party at that time. Many people were becoming despondent and frustrated.”“Dr. Rodney had died. The struggle had been thrown back and the PPP was still struggling to keep its support together and to mobilize, to withstand the threats that existed against coming out in the open. Many people felt that the PPP should take up arms but we did not go down that road,” the General Secretary said.The WPA suffered immensely because of the death of its foremost leader, Rohee believed. He said the way he had died forced many people to “back off from the struggle.”“It did have that negative kind of impact…WPA remained still active for quite a while and it was hoped that with the death of Dr. Rodney that it (PPP) would become more determined and more forceful to carry the struggle forward.”“After a while, when that (Rodney’s death) happened, things began to change. People became more passive.”“Our supporters, seeing that Jagan and leaders of the PPP were backing Rodney,Cheap NFL Jerseys, also felt that the struggle was in vain and therefore the situation became kind of downward.”Rohee is expected to be cross-examined when the commission resumes its hearings today. |
