Coping with accountability – commentary

Coping with accountability

Posted By Stabroek staff On October 9, 2012 – Editorial |

Setting aside the importance of finding out the truth about the circumstances that attended the killing of the three men at Linden during the July 18 protest in the mining town, the ongoing work of the Commission of Enquiry is important for another equally good reason, which is that it brings us – and more particularly the Guyana Police Force – face to face with the principle of accountability as an important tenet of democracy.

If the truth be told we have often been left with the impression that some institutions of state, not least the Force, are uncomfortable with accountability. That is precisely why sections of the independent media are doing everything in their power to report the unfolding events of the Commission of Enquiry. Quite simply, we are witnessing the altogether unaccustomed spectacle of the police being made to account publicly for civilian killings.  [read more]