An open letter to Hugh Denbow, Administrator Walter Rodney Secretariat

Mr. Hugh Denbow
Administrator, Walter Rodney Secretariat
Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry
Supreme Court Building
Georgetown, Guyana

December 6, 2015

Dear Mr. Denbow,

In our initial letter to the Commission of April 14, 2014 we pledged to assist the Commission in its task of arriving at findings that explain the circumstances of the unnatural death of Walter Rodney on June 13, 1980. For most of the period since then we benefited from timely reports of the hearings, and prompt responses to questions and queries regarding the work of the Commission. This facilitated us in our task of keeping our members across the world and the public at large abreast of developments as the inquiry progressed. We are thankful for the professionalism of the secretariat as it worked to ensure that the process and the proceedings were made public in a timely manner.

However, we are now experiencing changed circumstances, as we are not getting any responses from the secretariat to our emails, nor did we get copies of the transcript for the final hearing - that is the 68th hearing held on July 28, 2015. While from hearing 1 to hearing 67 the secretariat furnished us with the transcript by the end of each session, it has been silent since July 28, 2015, at 2.22 am when it sent out the transcript for the 67th hearing. Since July 28, we have not received any communication at all from the secretariat. This non-communication leaves room for questions as to the functioning of the secretariat.

In our view, a commission of inquiry must be transparent. Its work is not over until its report is presented, following which those in charge of the secretariat are expected to hand over the records of the proceedings for safe-keeping. There seems to be uncertainty in Guyana as to responsibility and accountability of public authorities. The Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry secretariat is the public authority charged with meeting the requirements of the constitution and common-law practice with regards to the conduct, reporting, and safe-keeping of records of the Commission.

We are concerned that we have not received the transcript for the last hearing held, and that our emails to the Walter Rodney Secretariat ([email protected]) are not being answered. Reports coming from people who should have an idea of what is happening with respect to the secretariat suggest that it no longer has adequate resources to allow for efficient completion of its task. We ask the Government of Guyana to clear matters up by making a public statement on whether the final phase of the secretariat’s work has the necessary resources. Guyana has a chance to turn over a new page. As the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry moves to an end, let us have the kind of transparent process that characterized it until July 27. This requires the following:

1. The transcripts of the hearings should be available to members of the public.
2. The report of the Commission must be public, and must be made available to the public.
3. The full record of the proceedings must be digitized.
4. The digital as well as the hard copy of the proceedings must be lodged in a public library and/or archive for easy access by anyone who may be interested in this matter.

It is our belief that the authorities in Guyana would have an interest in ensuring that this inquiry ends without further questions and controversies. In this vein, the Justice for Walter Rodney Committee believes that it is not too much to expect that those in the government with ultimate responsibility for the Walter Rodney secretariat would ensure that the staff of the secretariat have the necessary assistance and resources to satisfy the basic and normal requirements of transparency of the process as outlined in this letter.

Wazir Mohamed
For Justice for Walter Rodney Committee