President restates his ‘Shoot to kill’ order
…but warns Human Rights must not be violated
AT the opening of the annual Police Officers’ Conference at Eve Leary yesterday, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces President Bharrat Jagdeo repeated his directive to members of the Joint Services – that should a criminal point a gun at them, they have leave to ‘shoot to kill’. However, he stressed that the Joint Services must uphold the tenets of human rights in their operations.

“This does not mean it is a blanket approval to do anything. I have been criticised by some Human Rights organisations for defending the Police Force, and sometimes the soldiers, when they go out and encounter criminals and certain actions are taken,” the President said.

“This is my last address to you (as Officers) as the President of Guyana. I must say something. I believe that every President must be unambiguous in his or her support for the Police Force and the Disciplined Services. If you only allow people to feel that you are lukewarm in support, then it leads to a particular kind of attitude,” he posited.

“I am in favour of people’s human rights being respected, but a lot of these people don’t have a perspective on what goes on out there, and the many times I have had to meet with the wives, the mothers, or the fathers of people who have been killed particularly in the difficult period. So I said to them and I said this publicly – I didn’t say it behind closed doors because I believe in unambiguous support – if people point a gun at you, shoot to kill!” President Jagdeo declared.

“I prefer to deal with some of these people than to have listen to the lament of the mothers and wives and sisters and everyone who comes to me, because that crime period that we had, these people were animals. They just killed you because of the uniform you wore,” he recalled.

“I know this is going to be controversial, but I don’t have any regrets for doing this. I do not. And I would do it again and again and again…Like I said before, it is not a blanket approval for violation of human rights,” the President said.

QUOTE:‘I know this is going to be controversial, but I don’t have any regrets for doing this. I do not. And I would do it again and again and again…Like I said before, it is not a blanket approval for violation of human rights.’ – President Bharrat Jagdeo

The Guyanese head of state pointed out that when police in the UK shot and killed a Brazilian during a terrorist crackdown some years back, it was revealed that the orders to the Police were to shoot if they felt threatened. He said there was no outcry made about this, since it happened in a developed country.

“We need to get the human rights organisations to work with us to ensure the right protocols; but when people are intent upon killing you, like we have seen in the past, then you have no choice but to defend yourself,” he said.

Towards the end of his speech, the President said that sometime after he would have left office, he will talk about “how we messed up too, because we could have cleaned up that situation in Buxton earlier.”

QUOTE:‘We need to get the human rights organisations to work with us to ensure the right protocols; but when people are intent upon killing you, like we have seen in the past, then you have no choice but to defend yourself.’ – President Jagdeo

He noted that there were a few people, including from the Police Force, who had a different agenda.

“And I will tell you of specific instances how they countermanded instructions that could have led to an earlier capture or elimination of that gang. This is why I urge you to be professional. And if there is blood on anyone’s hands, that is a conversation for another day,” the Commander-in-Chief said.