Rohee convinced beyond the shadow of doubt… Burnham-led Gov’t killed Dr. Walter Rodney …was an unequivocal act of state sponsored terrorism
Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee (left) in conversation with former Attorney General, Charles Ramson (
Photos by Adrian Narine)
Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee (left) in conversation with former Attorney General, Charles Ramson ( Photos by Adrian Narine)

MINISTER with responsibility for National Security, Clement Rohee, is convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Forbes Burnham-led Peoples National Congress (PNC) Government was responsible for the death of Dr. Walter Rodney, an act that was meant to drive terror into those that dared oppose the regime.Rohee yesterday recommenced his evidence-in-chief at the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the June 13, 1980, bomb explosion that killed Working People’s Alliance (WPA) leader, Dr Walter Rodney.

Led in evidence by COI Counsel, Latchmie Rahmat, Rohee told the Commissioners that the killing of Dr. Rodney “was a clear and unequivocal act of state sponsored terrorism.”
Asked to expand on why label the killing and act of terrorism, Rohee pointed to the manner in which Dr. Rodney was killed.
He said that it was a clear message to all that opposed the regime at the time, a move that caused the militancy of the WPA and the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) to subside following the death of Dr. Rodney.
Rohee maintained that to kill someone in that way who was opposed to the administration was an act of terrorism.

COI Counsel Latchmie Rahmat (standing) engages the Commissioners during yesterday’s hearing
COI Counsel Latchmie Rahmat (standing) engages the Commissioners during yesterday’s hearing

“It drove terror into the hearts and minds of many people in our country,” said Minister Rohee.
Appearing before Chairman Sir Richard Cheltenham, Seenauth Jairam and Jacqueline Samuels–Brown, Minister Rohee testified that with bomb explosion, the message sent was that anyone that opposed the Government would end up like Dr Rodney.
“Anyone who stepped out of line had to face his wrath,” said Minister Rohee, as he spoke to how well-informed Burnham kept himself.
The Minister also testified under oath at the COI that among the reasons he believes that the State was responsible for Dr. Rodney’s death was the Gregory Smith connection.
Smith is the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Sergeant who allegedly delivered an explosive device to Dr. Rodney, which detonated in his lap killing him, instead of a ‘walkie talkie’ that the WPA Leader reportedly sought to procure from him.
According to Rohee, he could have only drawn the conclusion that Smith was an agent of the administration working through the GDF.
The state resources used to smuggle Sergeant Smith out of the country, according to Rohee, could not have occurred without the blessings of the leadership.
“Trust me,” he said, adding that there is no way he can imagine something like that happening without the use of state resources.
He was making reference to the fact that it was a GDF aircraft that was used to aid Sergeant Smith’s escape following the assassination of Dr. Rodney.
The Minister further charged that following the death of Dr. Rodney, there was a ‘cover-up.’ He told the Commissioners that during that era, the Administration had seized full control over the media and that nothing could be published before being vetted.
“There was no credible explanation about what happened,” according to Rohee.
He further told the Commission, “it was not a democracy …everything was under control.”
The Minister, during his testimony, spoke to the fact that even those who were perceived to be in cohorts with the WPA were targeted by the administration.
He spoke to meetings being violently disrupted and recalled an attack on the now Presidential Advisor on Governance, Gail Teixeira.
Rohee told the Commission on that occasion Teixeira was mistaken for Janet Jagan, the wife of Dr. Cheddi Jagan.
The PPP, he said was seen as an ally working to remove the PNC, which in turn felt it had to retaliate through attacks.
The Minister said the attacks were not limited to meetings, but also took on the form of harassment where activists of the party would have their homes searched and their yards dug up by members of the security forces, purportedly searching for arms and ammunition.
Rohee reminded that many were rounded up, arrested and detained for various periods of time, but never charged.
Dr. Jagan, according to Rohee, was charged with unlawful possession of ammunition when a spent shell was reportedly found in his yard during one such search.
The charge was dropped according to Minister Rohee.
Activists that fled the country were also harassed, according to Rohee, and this he said, was facilitated in part by the overseas Consulates which were controlled by the State.
The populace, according to Rohee, by this time had grown wary of the administration and had been calling for armed resistance against the regime in some quarters.
This, according to Rohee, was a notion that came up during the public consultations, but both Drs. Rodney and Jagan were opposed to this.
Minister Rohee wrapped up his evidence-in-chief yesterday and is expected to return to the witness box today to be cross examined by attorney-at-law, Basil Williams.

(By Gary Eleazar)

 

 

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