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GUYANA: Cops accused of setting boy’s genitals on fire
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CALL: Bharrat Jagdeo
GUYANESE PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo is facing calls for a public inquiry into security forces’ tactics after a series of cases where cops allegedly tortured suspects during questioning.
In the latest case, two police officers are being investigated for “excessive use of force” after they reportedly set a 14-year-old boy’s genitals on fire.
The boy’s relatives and human rights groups claimed the policemen, in Leonora, set him alight while questioning him in connection with a murder.
“The genitals of a minor were doused with inflammable liquid and set ablaze. The inside of (his) mouth burned with cigarettes and extensive wounds sustained from severe beatings despite a senior officer being reportedly in charge of the investigation,” the Guyana Human Rights Association told Caribbeannetnews.com.
The case has caused uproar in the country, with a lawyers' group urging a public inquiry into the ‘chilling’ and ‘abhorrent’ case.
Security forces have been accused of torturing people in several other high-profile cases in 2007 and 2008.
In March, there was a scandal over allegations that security forces placed a suspect on an ants' nest as they sought information over cocaine trafficking, the website said.
Published: 11 November 2009
Issue: 1397
