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Not since the Jonestown Massacre at Matthew's Ridge has this country seen this kind of carnage though rife with racial tensions between Blacks and East Indians and 'kick down the door' attacks by Blacks against Indians...
Early Friday morning about 2 a.m. the peaceful rest of the citizens of Lusignan, East Coast Demerara, Guyana was shattered by bullets exploding from rifles and shot guns in the hands of heartless cowards who kicked down doors to five residents simultaneously killing men, women and children at random.
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A mother and 4yr old son. Below sleeping boy. All photos courtesy of Kaieteur News
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They had no beef with any of the residents, other than that they were hapless, helpless, unarmed victims. Their motive was not to rob or rape, even though they demanded money and jewelry. They shot at whim, killing sleeping children and women in their beds.
In 15 minutes of terror, the gunmen, who numbered about 20, all armed with rifles and shotguns, massacred their victims, including an entire family comprising a mother and her two sleeping children, in a 15-minute ordeal that has left almost the entire East Coast Demerara in shock.
These are hardened criminals who have killed before and never been caught or brought to justice. The spent shells left at the scenes of the crimes tell a sordid tale.
The Police Ballistic Laboratory has since matched some of the spent the shells found at Lusignan as follows: Five 5.56 shells matched 5.56 shells found at the scene of Drakes's murder in Agricola. The thirty five 7.62 x 39 spent shells matched eighteen shells found at the scene of Minister Satyadeow Sawh's murder, the murder of the MMC security guards at Two Brothers gas station, Brumell and Scott at Agricola and the attack at Canal No. Two in 2007.
In other words, shells found at the scenes matched that found at, at least six other murder scenes across the country, one of them a party Minister visiting from Canada. Those murders have obviously never been solved, the killer or killers are still at large.
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Fiery blockade in protest. Photo courtesy of Kaieteur News.
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Angry residents took to the streets to show their disapproval of the current government and the total lack of police protection. The police force which comprises mostly of Blacks do nothing while these acts are in progress as the criminals are also Blacks and their victims Indians. Too, the criminals have more sophisticated weapons than the police and so even they are afraid of the killers.
Residents were upset at the slow police response. They said that the police refused to answer several telephone calls even as the massacre was in progress. This was brought to the attention of Acting Police Commissioner Henry Greene, who visited the area early yesterday morning and promised a full investigation into the conduct of his ranks.
Small comfort for a people already scared out of their wits and too little too late for those already dead.
Meanwhile, During a press conference hosted early yesterday morning, President Jagdeo said that only ‘sick, demented cowards’ can kill defenceless children. He noted that execution was clearly the motive of the attack.
“It could not have been robbery because these families are poor. it was intended to spread terror on the East Coast and in our country, but we cannot allow this to succeed,” the President said.
He added that he knows that there is ‘tremendous’ amount of fear on the East Coast Demerara and that, “We need to alleviate this fear that these communities are experiencing.”
The Head of State said that he met with the security forces early yesterday morning and instructed that they dominate the East Coast of Demerara.
Reactions from the EU, US, UK and Canada have been unanimous and strong. In a joint statement yesterday, members of the diplomatic community strongly condemned the killings of several Lusignan residents yesterday morning, and warned its citizens living in Guyana to be on alert.
The diplomatic community stand ready to lend help if Guyana should ask.
As of yesterday afternoon, Guyana had not requested any help from the diplomatic community.
Also present at the reading of the statement yesterday were British High Commissioner Fraser Wheeler, Ambassador of the European Commission Geert Heikens, and Marc Mostovic, Charge d’Affaires of the Canadian High Commission.
“Like all citizens and residents of Guyana, we are appalled at the brutal murder of innocent people, including children, in Lusignan early this morning. Our deepest sympathy lies with the families of the victims, and we hope the perpetrators of this atrocity are brought to justice quickly,” the officials said in the joint statement.
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Sleeping boy shot dead. Courtesy of Kaieteur News.
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Survivors of the ordeal recount their horrific experiences. At least six were wounded. One man watched his son get shot in the head and died as he sat in bed helplessly. It happened so fast he could not even respond, and before he knew it another bullet hit him wounding him.
One woman told of hiding under the bed with her daughter while her husband was dragged out from under the bed and shot dead.
A $30M reward for one Rondell Rawlins, called ‘Fine Man,’ has been posted for information leading to his arrest or capture.
Rawlins, of Buxton, East Coast Demerara, and Agricola, East Bank Demerara, is wanted by the police for a series of murders and robberies under arms.
It is said that he is responsible for last evening’s massacre at Lusignan, which left 11 people dead.
Anyone with information that may lead to his arrest is asked to contact the police on telephone numbers: 225-6411, 226-6978, 225-8196, 226-1326, 225-2227, 225-3650, 225-7625, or 911, or the nearest police station.
In a released issued by the police, it is stated that all information will be treated with strict confidence.
I doubt the death of all of these people can be on one man's head only. Not when there were about twenty accomplices.
This story hits home for this CJ. My favourite aunt lives in Lusignan along with some of my cousins. I read this news on the Kaieteur News site hoping I won't see any names I recognize. Still I am heart sick over what happened. This aunt lost her husband years ago to men just like these and one of her daughters, a cousin, lost her eldest son to men like these four years ago this coming Feb. 14th.
R.I.P.
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those pictures are pretty graphic...unreal...
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@ Navin Vaswani
those pictures are pretty graphic...unreal...
Yes, they are Navin. Makes the outrage all the more understandable. Our people have been living with this for years and years and frankly they are fed up. The Only Thing Necessary for the Triumph of Evil is for Good Men to do Nothing - Edmund Burke
It's time for some good men to do something. -
This is terrible, it seems to surface worldwide instead of living in harmony. If they keep doing this they will lose good citizens. When the economy is bad, they try to do this against others. I hope they catch the killers soon, otherwise it will spread even more. Sorry to hear about your family, must be a tough loss to bear.
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@ Chris V. (cgull)
This is terrible, it seems to surface worldwide instead of living in harmony. If they keep doing this they will lose good citizens. When the economy is bad, they try to do this against others. I hope they catch the killers soon, otherwise it will spread even more. Sorry to hear about your family, must be a tough loss to bear.
Thanks C. Yes, I have siblings and nephews, etc. back in Guyana and concerns for their safety too is on our minds though we say nothing. We hope and pray that all our relatives and family will be safe, one of my brothers was chased by some hoodlums one night but he escaped shaken.
You are right about the good citizens leaving the country. Many have fled to countries like Canada, USA, Britain and other places and not only the economy has suffered as a result but other areas such as education and health care. -
This is horrific. I don't understand what causes a person to commit such a cowardly, misguided, brutal act. I hope they catch the bastards.
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What is the reason behind these attacks Sheba? Is it a racial thing, a religious thing - sorry for being naive but I don't understand what on earth motivates people to be so evil.
How awful it must be to live each day in such fear.
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@ Pamela Jean (GotTheScoop)
What is the reason behind these attacks Sheba? Is it a racial thing, a religious thing - sorry for being naive but I don't understand what on earth motivates people to be so evil.
How awful it must be to live each day in such fear.
Pam, it goes back to when Guyana first receive its independence from Britain and the first political party to win the election was East Indian based. Cheddi Jagan was the leader of that party (the PPP). Jagan had a partner in the party, a Black man by the name of Linden Forbes S. Burnham.
Jagan was educated in Russia and had some socialists ideals, J.F. Kennedy was in office at the time and was dealing with the Cuban Missile crisis, the last thing he needed was another communist country in the Western Hemisphere. So the search for a stool pigeon began. Burnham was only too happy to take the position.
He left the PPP and formed the PNC and ran for election and what do you know he won. He governed Guyana for the next 28 years by rigging elections. Burnham pitted his own race who for the most part co-exist peacefully with Indians and vice versa, against the E. Indian. (Britain has since admitted to its involvement in putting Burnham in power and formally apologized to the Guyanese people. America has yet to even acknowledge its part much less apologize.)
Jagan returned to power after Burnham died and the first free and fair election in 28 years was held. Jimmy Carter was one of the international observers at that election. His parting words to Jagan after he won the election was to see to it that this does not happen to Guyana again (the Burnham tragedy) or Guyana may be a forgotten country. Nice eh?
After the PPP returned to power the PNC played the race card again, something Burnham always did. The 'kick down the door' bandits began to hit the Indian towns and murder, raped and pillaged, the PPP afraid to say or do anything to make itself look like a racist regime. If you read the source article on this massacre you'll notice no mention of the race issue.
Also, Canada and America began shipping back hardened criminals to Guyana (and to Jamaica, etc.) who had immigrated to these countries. These criminal elements are way more sophisticated than your regular run of the mill bad guy found down there. So even the police are afraid as these criminals have better weapons than they do.
So to answer your question Scoop. It is a combination of the racial tension and the criminal element - the joy/thrill of killing and not facing justice for it. Just makes the killer more daring, and the killings more horrific.
@ Ringwraith
This is horrific. I don't understand what causes a person to commit such a cowardly, misguided, brutal act. I hope they catch the bastards.
Yes, before it gets worse as that seem to be the trend here. -
Wow, how awful. Race and politics - the great divide. That and the evil that lurks in mens hearts, men not worthy to live if you ask me. The only solice I find in any of it is that those murderous evil creatures will suffer in the deepest pits of hell for what they are doing to innocent men, women and children. They are surely cursed and damned for all eternity....
Thanks for the good explanation. I really am ignorant on alot of world politics.
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Thank you for explaning all that you have, Sheba. How tragic this is and how it must effect you and your family as well. Even though the story itself is horrific, thanks for sharing this with us and letting us know a little more about you.
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Great article Sheba.
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Thanks Pam, Deb and Helena. I certainly do worry for the safety of my family back there, yes. I keep hoping and praying to never hear anything had happened to any of my siblings there - as long as my mom is still alive, or something like this will send her to her grave sooner. Thanks again.
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This is what they do utilize the division to attack people who earned their money by hard work. Unless the world considers everyone equal, this will be repeated. In Kenya, they kill their own just because they call themselves a different tribe. It is just disheartening, it keeps repeating with various names worldwide.
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This is horrific. I will pray for your family and friends. I hope they will be safe. This article opened my eyes to what some people have to live with daily. It makes us grateful for our country and our own lives even when it seems like everything is going wrong.
Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention.
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@ Brandigal (Donna)
This is horrific. I will pray for your family and friends. I hope they will be safe. This article opened my eyes to what some people have to live with daily. It makes us grateful for our country and our own lives even when it seems like everything is going wrong.
Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention.
Thank you Brandigal. -
Hi Sheba, I posted a comment but I can't seem to see it listed? However, I did notice that you visited my BLOG. I hope it wasn't something I said? - Clairmont
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@ gtstyle
Hi Sheba, I posted a comment but I can't seem to see it listed? However, I did notice that you visited my BLOG. I hope it wasn't something I said? - Clairmont
Clairmont, I didn't get a chance to visit your WordPress blog if that is what you're referring to. You posted a comment on another one of my related articles on this situation here and I replied. While I don't agree with everything you said, you made some good points and I do appreciate your input as it gives another perspective as well.
Any comment you post here on DJ cannot be deleted by anyone other than DJ and they have a policy of not doing that. So don't worry your comments will always get posted here.
Cheers,
S. -
Actually, Sheba, Burnham never won a free election in his LIFE.
When the British suspended the Constitution in 1961 (I think) and ousted Cheddi Jagan as Premier, there was a Coalition Government formed between the PNC and the Daguiar led UF (United Force) that was headed by Burnham. That's how he came to power; everything after that was rigged or won by intimidation! This was preceded by a nationwide race riot spearheaded by the PNC and its adherents against the Indian population, funded no doubt by the CIA. A certain Sydney King, later on known as Eusi Kwayana, was one of the premier black activists of the violence, even reputed to have said that the Indian men should be killed but the women left alive as they make good servants and concubines. Once Burnham was in power there was no getting him out. I'm still amazed that Black Television in Guyana still idolize him after all the carnage he brought to Guyana and the economic deprivation he brought upon his own race as he never taught them the value of hard work and education, ironically he being himself the holder of a first class honours degree as well as the LLB?
One Love
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Thanks Knightmistic. You're right, Burnham did form a collation with D'aguiar's United Force to get the majority seats he needed to win. Are you sure Eusi Kwayana said that? He was/is one of the founders of the W.P.A. and is well liked. I find it hard to believe he said that about Indian men and women. Hmm...that is interesting.
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OMG I didn't see this until today. I am sobbing over here... I hate seeing pictures like that. There are just some things in this world that are heart wrenching every time you see them.
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@ Samantha A. Torrence
OMG I didn't see this until today. I am sobbing over here... I hate seeing pictures like that. There are just some things in this world that are heart wrenching every time you see them.
Indeed. The wounds are deep on this one. Five children!! Five children murdered in cold blood!! -
Horrible. Absolutely horrible.
My prayers for you and for your family still there, Sheba.
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@ Mr Garibaldi
Horrible. Absolutely horrible.
My prayers for you and for your family still there, Sheba.
Thank you Mike so very much. That is the best thing you can do for us - pray. Thank you. -
Sheba,
Thanks for the reply. Actually it is true, but nothing that could be proven in a court of law. This was reported to me by an uncle of mine who was present at one of the black power meetings that they held. I must explain that my family on my mother's side are of mixed black and East Indian and this particular uncle looks more black than anything and was quite able to 'pass' in the 60's. Understand, however, that it was the black part of my family that protected the Indian part during the disturbances. My mother actually told me of the story of her Grandmother, a full black woman, who would sit on a chair in front of their house when Burnham's marauding thugs were passing by and attacking and burning anything 'coolie', in order to give the impression that 'black people' lived there.
My own father, a full Indian, was attacked and beaten up by a group of black thugs on his way to work one morning. He was defended by one of my 'black' uncles and another black friend who rushed to his assistance and manged to fight off the hooligans. Sometimes I weep for my country.
Increase the peace.
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@ Knightmystic
Sheba,
Thanks for the reply. Actually it is true, but nothing that could be proven in a court of law. This was reported to me by an uncle of mine who was present at one of the black power meetings that they held. I must explain that my family on my mother's side are of mixed black and East Indian and this particular uncle looks more black than anything and was quite able to 'pass' in the 60's. Understand, however, that it was the black part of my family that protected the Indian part during the disturbances. My mother actually told me of the story of her Grandmother, a full black woman, who would sit on a chair in front of their house when Burnham's marauding thugs were passing by and attacking and burning anything 'coolie', in order to give the impression that 'black people' lived there.
My own father, a full Indian, was attacked and beaten up by a group of black thugs on his way to work one morning. He was defended by one of my 'black' uncles and another black friend who rushed to his assistance and manged to fight off the hooligans. Sometimes I weep for my country.
Increase the peace.
Knight, thanks for sharing. I have a friend, an E. Indian man who was/is very involved (close) with "Brother" Eusi Kwayana, and even Rodney, when he was alive, and the rest of the 'inner circle' of the W.P.A. I'm going to ask him about this and see what he has to say about it - maybe get him to comment. Thanks again for sharing. -
@ Knightmystic
Actually, Sheba, Burnham never won a free election in his LIFE.
When the British suspended the Constitution in 1961 (I think) and ousted Cheddi Jagan as Premier, there was a Coalition Government formed between the PNC and the Daguiar led UF (United Force) that was headed by Burnham. That's how he came to power; everything after that was rigged or won by intimidation! This was preceded by a nationwide race riot spearheaded by the PNC and its adherents against the Indian population, funded no doubt by the CIA. A certain Sydney King, later on known as Eusi Kwayana, was one of the premier black activists of the violence, even reputed to have said that the Indian men should be killed but the women left alive as they make good servants and concubines. Once Burnham was in power there was no getting him out. I'm still amazed that Black Television in Guyana still idolize him after all the carnage he brought to Guyana and the economic deprivation he brought upon his own race as he never taught them the value of hard work and education, ironically he being himself the holder of a first class honours degree as well as the LLB?
One Love
Knight, just to follow up on this comment on Eusi. I did ask my friend and he didn't want to get into a debate but did say that:
Eusi Kwayana has written extensively about the 60's and the fact remains that he is the only one from that era to have done so. The fact remains that no one else from the two conflicting sides has ventured to tell the truth or comment on the past except to point fingers. The person that I know closely as Eusi has been more of a role model for me than anyone else in my life, he is one of the most astute, genuine persons to have been involved in guyana's public life. Pandit Sam Persaud had mentioned to me once, "of all the politicians of the sixties, Eusi is the only one who is truthful".
Bear in mind that my friend and Pandit Sam Persaud are both East Indian men. The late Sam Persaud was also a friend of my family. Add a Comment
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Massacre in Guyana Leaves 11 Dead
