The Courtney Crum-Ewing case – justice delayed is justice denied

Guyana Chronicle Editorial

ONE of our columnists, Dr. David Hinds, used his column on Tuesday last to highlight the fact that the issue of Courtney Crum-Ewing’s murder seems to have been forgotten by both the Government and the population at large. Dr. Hinds suggested that Crum-Ewing’s mother seems to be frustrated by the lack of progress in bringing her son’s murderer or murderers to book. He went onto question the commitment of the society to ensuring justice for those who are killed while carrying out political protest. Dr. Hinds raises an important subject. Many had deemed Crum-Ewing’s murder a political act and fingered operatives of the then Government as culpable. Thousands took to the streets on the day of his funeral and others mounted vigils and pickets and circulated petitions. Members of the then Opposition parties were in the forefront of these actions. But as Dr. Hinds noted, a mere three months later a picketing exercise to draw attention to the unsolved case could only draw a few citizens. Dr. Hinds seems to be pointing fingers in two directions – the Government and the larger society. We would like to deal with the former. It is no secret that Crum-Ewing supported the APNU+AFC coalition. One would, therefore, expect the coalition Government to move with some haste on this matter. It is not clear the extent to which they have done so. It is understandable that the Government is taking its time on this and other related matters. After all, there is a vast difference between rhetoric on the campaign trail and actual governance. No doubt, the Minister would have to rely on the Commissioner and the other top brass of the Police Force to move this matter. The big question is whether or not movement on the matter by the Police is crippled by the fact they are caught in between different interests on the matter by the former and current Administrations. Assuming that the interests of the two Governments on the matter are different; can the same leadership of the Police Force pivot from one mindset to another? In other words, is the Crum-Ewing case a victim of politics? As Dr. Hinds reminded us, the former Minister of Home Affairs had directed the Police to go after the killers with haste. Was that just for public consumption? Did the Police ever carry out the directive? We know that the Police did not question some key figures whose names were being suggested as persons of interest. Why they did not? The Minister of Public Security, Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan said a few weeks ago that he is committed to pursue this matter and other so-called high profile cold cases. The Minister and the Police Commissioner need to clarify where they are on the matter. The longer the delay, the colder the case gets. Remember the old adage – ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’.