Member of Parliament for the APNU, Sherod Duncan, today said the State’s refusal to send the Head of the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU), Fizal Karimbaksh on administrative leave, pending an investigation into allegations of rape against him, is sending a bad message to victims of sexual violence.
MP Duncan was among a small group of persons who picketed SOCU’s Head Office today calling for Karimbaksh to be removed from Office. A female Police Officer has accused Karimbaksh of rape and sexual assault. The Police Force has since announced a special investigation.
Duncan said this is not the first time Karimbaksh has been accused of sexual assault, and he must be removed from Office to pave the way for an independent, fair and thorough investigation into the allegations now leveled against him.
“I believe that Karimbaksh has stayed on, is allowed to say on because he got secrets for them, the government that is, and the Government has secrets for him. It sends a bad signal to the female especially in the Guyana Police Force that when something like this happens to them, God forbid, that they have no recourse, that they could file a complaint, that they can send a written statement but once that person is backed by the Government, that person shall not be moved. It sends a bad, bad signal,” MP Duncan said.
Last Friday, Minister of Home Affairs, Oneidge Walrond said the Deputy Commissioner of Police should be sent on administrative leave pending a full and independent investigation into the allegations of rape made against him.
However, Minister Walrond noted that the Police Service Commission, which institutes disciplinary proceedings against Senior Police Officers, has not been reconstituted.
MP Duncan said the Home Affairs Minister’s indication that Karimbaksh should be sent on administrative leave should have been enough for him to step down from office given the serious allegations against him.
Meanwhile, former APNU MP Annette Ferguson took umbrage to statements by the Home Affairs Minister that the investigation will involve a confrontation between the accused, and accuser.
“The law governing sexual offences misconduct is very clear, so why would you even think about going to a confrontation when the victim would have stated already, whether by paper committal what would have transpired between herself and the accused Mr Karimbaksh. So, I am not in support of the minister position on confrontation,” Ferguson said.
She said the victim must not be made to relive the trauma.
Media manager, Leroy Smith was also among those on the picket line. He told reporters he opted to join the protest given the long list of allegations of sexual assault levied against the senior police officer.
“This thing is very straight forward. A precedence has been set. You had Henry Greene that had to leave, you had Carl Wilson, you had Mahendra Singh and you had several other police officers whose names I can’t recall right now but they were sent off the job for allegations of a lesser nature but also sexually related also,” Smith said.
He said the Home Affairs Minister has the power to send Karimbaksh on administrative leave or cause him to be sent on administrative leave.
Rights Organization and the Opposition have also called for Karimbaksh to be removed from office, pending the completion of the investigation into the allegations of rape made against him.
Source: News Source Guyana
