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Who is silent agrees

CARICOM’S complicity

By

Jefferson Williams

author

The minister of foreign affairs of Suriname, declared in a statement yesterday April 5,2012, that the fact that the CARICOM is keeping silent about the amnesty act, passed on that very day by  Suriname’s parliament, granting immunity to Daisy Bouterse (acting CARICOM’S president) for all crimes committed by him, and that all proceedings being undertaken by the prosecution to have him sentenced for his murdering and castrating fifteen critics of his regime  i.a. three labour union leaders,  is tacit agreement of CARICOM’s agreement cq. Acceptance,cq. approval of the act.

This implies that all the labour unions of the Caricom countries approve of the fact that labour union leaders can be castrated and then shot summarily for lifting their fingers against a dictator.

In a statement released yesterday by the Dutch government it is stated that the deed will not be without international consequences. The fact that Bouterse is CARICOM’S president and furthermore is a fugitive from crimes committed in the Netherlands (arms and drugs smuggling) for which he has been  sentenced to thirteen years in prison, will certainly enter the considerations.

 

Background

 

Surinamers in and outside Suriname, are momentarily watching in awe and apprehension at  the spectacle that is  unfolding  before their very eyes in their country . The stage was  set in 1975 when the Dutch government in a remarkable  move   decided to grant independence to its unruly colony with an exit bonus of two billion US dollars.. Doubting the ability of their countrymen to maintain law and order, at the mere mention of the decision, thousands took to their heels to the Netherlands until the motherland put a stop to the exodus with visa requirements. Presently 400.000 of them reside in the Netherlands.

Within five years (1980)sixteen malcontented  non com military below the rank of corporal, under the command of a sergeant major  named Daisy Bouterse,  decided to stage a coup.  They ousted and jailed whomsoever  might pose a threat to them and they could lay their hands on: superiors,  cabinet ministers etc. Past president Ronald Venetiaan for instance, at the time minister of education, went in hiding for many years. They burnt down newspaper offices and television stations and installed a curfew. Who dared find himself after midnight on the street was summarily shot to dead.

The perpetrators began with giving themselves juicy military ranks. Bouterse became commander in chief of the armed forces with the rank of full coronel.  A male nurse was bombarded to captain and company’s commander . Then they began their disastrous rule that would lead the country to virtual bankruptcy. In 1982  incited by then prime minister of Grenada Maurice Bishop who told them during a visit publicly not to put up with criticism, they rounded up fifteen prominent lawyers, labor leaders etc. who had dared raise their voice against them, manhandled them, and shot them summarily to dead. The happening referred to as the December murders has since then been haunting the country.

In 1987 the military, after running the country to a ground- the value of the Surinamese guilder previously valued at two Dutch guilders a piece-had dropped in the meantime to a thousandth, decided to relinquish power. Releasing the leaders of the old political parties from jail, they struck a deal with them. In return for immunity from deeds committed during the military reign, the old parties would be allowed to function anew. Bouterse got himself a job as chief government adviser which gave him ample time and opportunity  to dedicate himself to a new venture: drugs and arms dealing. He was however apprehended in the Netherlands and sentenced to thirteen years in jail. But he escaped and Suriname refused to extradite  a national. His son Dino was grabbed in Brazil for the same crime and jailed. His erstwhile chief of staff Etienne Boereveen was apprehended in the States and sentenced to 7 years which he has sat out.  Both have now been rewarded with high posts in the present government.

The next of kin of the murdered prominents in the meantime had not stood still.  Operating mainly from the Netherlands, they demanded  time and again that the persons who had committed the deeds should be brought on trial, maintaining that the amnesty agreed upon did not cover crimes against humanity. Successive governments with in their mind’s eyes  visions of what the man might do to them, had refused to budge. He had once with a mere telephone call (the socalled telephone coup) caused a whole government to step down. And past president Venetiaan refused to comply deadly scared of what Bouterse might do if provoked. Four years ago at last he ordered the prosecution to go ahead. It is rumoured that he had received the green light from the American government with a promise of interference in case Bouterse might retaliate. The case has  been dragging on in court for four years. With Bouterse simply refusing to attend the proceedings calling them a mere farce and claiming that the deeds had not been committed by him but by underlings. And the latter were wise enough to keep their mouths tightly shut. Until last week when one of them came forward with the surprising statement that Bouterse himself had pulled the trigger that had killed two of the labour leaders after personally castrating them..

Bouterse in the meantime had founded his own political party drawing backers mainly from the young who had not been born as yet when the deeds had been committed. Thanks to the fact that they make up the majority of the population -voting age being 18 years-he came out as the biggest party in the last election. In a surprising move he succeeded in striking a deal with his foremost adversaries: the Indonesian party and the Maroon party. The leader of the Indonesian party Salam Somohardjo  who had fled the land during Bouterse’s reign and had stayed in hiding in the Netherlands  agreed to let bygones be bygones and agreed on his presidency. So did Ronny Brunswijk the leader of the Maroons Party  who had staged an unsuccessful guerrilla against the military which had led  to the massacre of one of his villages. Known as the Case of the Moiwanna killings,  Surinames’ government, of all people led by president Venetiaan (himself a victim), was sentenced by the American court of justice to pay full damages to the relatives of the murdered maroons. Brunswijk by the way, is being sought by the French authorities for bank robberies in adjoining French Guyana.

At the news of the surprising testimony (the witness had two years previously  testified that Bouta had been absent during the killings) the president’s backers in parliament acted with the speed of lightning. They  passed an act  granting amnesty for all crimes which may have been committed by the president and ordering the prosecution  to forthwith stop the going proceedings against him.

This move has put many people in Suriname to wondering. How is it possible that a man who has committed so many crimes can go scot-free?   How come a man sentenced in the Netherlands in the highest court for drugs can go scot-free?

How come a man accused of mercilessly mutilating and murdering labour union leaders  can perform as CARICOM president? What is the feeling of the Caribbean labour leaders about this? The American, British and Canadian ambassadors last week paid a visit to the minister of foreign affairs to ask for an explanation. They were given to understand, as the minister himself explained on t.v., that Suriname is  an autonomous sovereign country and that no outside power is allowed  to meddle into its internal affairs. The Dutch government promised to take measures. All eyes are now turned towards the international organizations carrying  respect for human rights in their banners, for their reactions. And of course to the CARICOM authorities.