Articles by Janet Jagan
October 5, 1992 Ushered in the New Day
By Janet Jagan (October 5, 2006)
October 5, 1992 marked the beginning of a new era in Guyana. This was the day which practically all Guyanese had been waiting for -- the end of tyranny and hopelessness and the beginning of freedom and democracy.
It was not a fluke nor an accident that October 5, 1992 became the day of Guyana’s liberation. It was sought and fought for since the dark days of 1964 when the two countries – the USA and the UK – intervened in Guyana’s internal affairs and manipulated, in numerous ways, the eviction of the Peoples’ Progressive Party from office and literally installed the PNC-UF deadly coalition that led to the 28 years of ruthless dictatorship.
The United Force removed itself from the dirty coalition – but only After being involved in the first electoral rigging of 1968. Burnham’s rigging was not only aimed at defeating the PPP, but in getting rid of the United Force – one of those ironies of fate.
Life was not easy for Guyanese during this disgraceful period of history from 1964-1992. Whatever gains workers and farmers had won in the previous PPP administrations (even under British rule) were lost and poverty began rising as never before. Many rights formerly enjoyed by Guyanese were removed or restricted. No longer did Guyanese have the right to elect a government of their choice through free and fair elections; no longer was there free speech and free movement of people. The Burnham regime craftily restricted press freedom by refusing the importation of newsprint, ink and printing machinery, besides other methods. When some journalists wrote that the 1973 elections were grossly rigged Rickey Singh and Rick Mentus of the Guyana Graphic were fired, and Father Wong of the Catholic Standard was removed from his post of Editor.
Parliament was reduced to a farce. I give one example of my own experiences which can be checked at the Parliament Office. As an MP, after the scandalous and horrific Jonestown massacre, I tabled a series of questions which would have been hard to answer: who gave permission for Jonestown to have weapons, US currency, poisons, sophisticated communications equipment and a whole host of penetrating questions. Despite frequent enquiries these never hit the Order Paper. When the next Parliament was convened, I put the question again, and again and again. There was never any intention to answer them. And that was much the pattern of the National Assembly, whose Speaker eventually prevented Opposition Leader Cheddi Jagan from speaking in Parliament for over two years!
The years 1964-1992 were the worst in the nation’s history in modern times and probably as painful and detrimental to the population as the earliest years of colonial rule.
The PPP under the leadership of the courageous and resourceful Cheddi Jagan led the resistance to the PNC dictatorship, never giving up, never reducing the pressure. I can say with absolute certainty, that had it not been for the perseverance of the PPP, the 28 years of tyrannical rule might not have ended on October 5, 1992. There are many who put in their claims for helping to bring down the dictatorship – but no one but the PPP had the guts to oppose the PNC for many, many years. It was only later, when civic groups and the WPA emerged to finally form the Patriotic Coalition for Democracy (PCD) along with the PPP, that the movement to restore democracy was strengthened and broadened. Before that, fear was a decisive factor, and that can be easily understood, as the PNC regime was utterly ruthless.
So emerged a unified opposition to the PNC’s undemocratic rule and the engagement of overseas support – largely due to the influence and perseverance of Cheddi Jagan that brought in former US President Jimmy Carter to help the process.
We know how his efforts were greatly responsible for removing some of the worst elements of electoral rigging – like the removal of ballot boxes with votes being counted secretly away from the place of poll. This was corrected and when elections were finally held on October 5, 1992, we know the results.
The man who led the struggle for Independence and the restoration of democracy, Cheddi Jagan, became the first democratically elected President of Guyana. Today, with democracy a part of daily life in Guyana, and with progress leading to better standards of living and life far better than that dark period, we can be grateful to all those who gave their lives, their time and their energy to make Guyana a land of the free!
© 2006 Janet Jagan
by Janet Jagan
The wanton destruction by Israeli military of the sovereign state of Lebanon has brought sorrow not only to the millions of displaced Lebanese citizens, but to that part of this world that cares about people and their well being.
In very recent times we have witnessed the cruel and ruthless invasions of three nations – Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon. Millions of people have lost their homes, their means of livelihood, their husbands, sons, daughters and are living under unbearable conditions. The death toll in Iraq since the US invasion is incalculable, but is somewhere in the tens of thousands.
Poor, poor Lebanon had just reached the road to recovery and had a vibrant economy with newly built infrastructure and modern housing, much of which had been lost in the rough years of the 1980s when Israel had occupied parts of Lebanon for years, where fighting went on for years and life was dangerous in that small country bordering Israel.
Israel, over a month ago, invaded Lebanon after Hezbollah sent rockets into Israel in retaliation and support for the Palestinians who were being slaughtered by Israel’s rockets and bombings on their own territory.
Instead of dealing with Hezbollah as a separate force, the Israelis attacked the country in which they are stationed – Lebanon. The whole state of Lebanon was, therefore, considered responsible for what a group or section was doing. The Israelis meant that the whole of Lebanon, women and children who had the highest death rates, were to pay for the rockets launched by Hezbollah. The tables turned, and the Lebanese victims turned against the Israelis, as have most of the Middle East nations, the world and even Israeli citizens.
The USA attempted to be the peacemaker, but no one accepted that role, since the US is much, much too close to Israel. The militarization of Israel, as is no secret, has been carried out by help from the USA and the unusual show of force by the occupying Israeli military – 30,000 troops, has reinforced the anti-American, anti-Israeli attitudes in the Middle East.
If Israel in the long term is to survive, and few really want its demise, it will have to change and seek peaceful, not hostile relations with other nations in the area. That is, for the future, Israel’s only way to survival and it is about time that Israel accepted the reality that it cannot be at war forever and expect its people to be content and secure. The diplomacy of peace should be accepted as the way forward – the only way. The Palestinians’ right to a homeland has to be respected and an urgent solution, to restore the Palestinians’ rights to stolen lands, must be found.
Israel’s expectations of a quick victory in Lebanon failed in the light of Hezbollah’s tenacity. The widespread killing of civilians and the wanton destruction of homes have brought world sympathy to the Lebanese people and the opposite to Israel. Israel also played its cards badly during the United Nations Security Council debates to bring about an end to the fighting. One day after the unanimous vote in the Security Council, for a ceasefire, Israel stepped up its invasion, sending in more troops and military hardware. Hezbollah responded by sending some 250 rockets into Israel.
An end to hostilities is to begin now and it is hoped that no more lives will be lost and no more destruction will take place. Lebanon has already suffered about $4billion in losses to the economy and infrastructure. Peace in the Middle East seems far away. The US is in a quagmire in both Iraq and Afghanistan. No one who has responsibility for these sufferings seems to really care. The United Nations is doing its best to garner humanitarian aid to those who are caught in the middle of the aggressions, but that is not enough. The super power and its acolytes who create wars and invasions are steering a dangerous course, disrupting countries and peoples, denying nations their sovereign rights and increasing the poverty and hopelessness, as well as the number of refugees all over the world.
We can only hope that the UN Resolution on Lebanon will be successful, so that the Lebanese people can again, rebuild their country and hopefully, live in peace.
Aug 19,2006
© 2006 Janet Jagan
Have the US Military Invasions Made the World a Better Place to Live in?
May 7, 2006 - by Janet Jagan
The 30% US President George Bush has one of the lowest approval ratings in US Presidential history. The reasons are many, but the main causes of the President’s lowered approval rating have to do with the US invasion of Iraq and the failure to deal with the catastrophic Hurricane Katrina in a timely and helpful manner.
If more errors are made, like the possibility of an attack on Iran, we can expect Bush’s approval rating to plummet more. He has already refused to "rule out" a nuclear strike on Iran if that nation does not give up its nuclear programme. Iran insists that its uranium enrichment programme is entirely peaceful and aimed at producing nuclear power for civilian consumption.
The US is pushing for sanctions against Iran by the United Nations Security Council. However, two members so far have said they oppose sanctions and the use of force. They are China and Russia.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has declared that the Security Council cannot be sidestepped and has an obligation to check Iran’s nuclear development. Yet it was the same USA that snubbed its nose at the United Nations which was then monitoring the claim that Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), and despite the negative results the monitoring team were getting, pushed into Iraq to overthrow the Saddam Hussein government. As is common knowledge, there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction and the USA’s unilateral decision to militarily invade Iraq to halt WMD usage was a lie. Now Rice has conveniently forgotten the US’s former attitude to ignore the UN and has shifted to a new position to get backing for sanctions against Iran. She has gone even further in expressing the USA’s possible military ambitions in Iran. She recently warned that the US could take steps outside the UN Security Council to pressure Iran to stop its nuclear development.
President Bush has already engaged his nation in two Middle East wars - Afghanistan and Iraq. Will he be foolish enough to enter a third debacle? We can only hope for the best, let negotiations proceed, and also hope for a peaceful settlement. This is not the time for macho cowboy behaviour, but skilled diplomacy.
Both countries invaded by the USA are having very difficult times. The insurgency in Iraq hasn’t abated one inch and seems to be getting tougher. Deaths of Iraqis and US/Italian/British soldiers are still growing. The US military occupation is the root cause of the terror.
After more than four months since the elections in Iraq there are still delays in the formation of a government, so much so that two high-ranking members of the Bush cabinet, Rice and Rumsfeld visited Iraq last week to urge a quicker formation of a government.
And in the meantime, a European Union Parliamentary investigation into the "rendition" of prisoners under US control has revealed that CIA agents are guilty of illegally detaining and kidnapping persons, using European airfields to send them to countries where torture exists. The report stated that it was "inconceivable that European governments did not know what was going on" and further, that it’s up to the European Governments to stop this violation of human rights.
And if that accusation against the US and its CIA was not bad enough, we now learn that FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) agents have accused US military personnel at Guantanamo Bay Prison in Cuba of using illegal "aggressive interrogation tactics" on political detainees, all Muslims. The American Civil Liberties Union uncovered these charges after obtaining a court order. In one document, it described witnessing two military investigators interrogating a detainee at Guantanamo while showing him homosexual pornography movies and using a strobe light in the room. Interrogations last 16-18 hours and use such reprehensible tactics as wrapping the prisoner in an Israeli flag and playing constantly loud music.
There is also a report that there is a secret underground prison in Iraq where more than 170 men showed the effects of malnutrition and torture.
Added to the Bush administration’s woes are the mounting costs of the Iraq invasion, now estimated at US$439 Billion, more than the total cost of the Vietnam War. Further, although it has been swept under the carpet, the fact that Republican Party financial supporters are getting favoured contracts, as in the case of the firm Halliburton (once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney) is all part of the dirt accumulating which is lowering the credibility of the Bush administration.
And fear and instability are so great in Iraq that already some 65,000 Iraqis have fled to tent settlements to get out of the range of daily killings. They are refugees in their own country.
And in Afghanistan, it will be years before US and other troops can withdraw, and probably many years before a genuine, national government can be formed.
Is the world a better place to live in following the two military invasions led by the USA? I think few will believe so.
© 2006 Janet Jagan
by Janet Jagan (May 2004)
"Occupation is always ugly," commented the Arab Director of the Al-Ahram Centre, Abdel-Moneim Said. He was speaking about President George Bush’s interview with two Arabic-language television stations on the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad. The impression given by President Bush was that he did "too little too late" and neglected to apologize for the abuses. He did this later, under pressure by the poor response in the Arab world to his interview, again "too late."
I watched President Bush on Television as he gave this interview and observed his face. It was clear that he had been carefully coached on his demeanour and the usual smirk, I call it, on his face, for once was absent.
But it seems, even that and his carefully prepared cautious remarks on the prisoner abuse scandal didn’t work. The damage had been done and was unrepairable, as Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld discovered in his evidence before the joint congressional hearing on Capital Hill last week. Despite his remarkably clever defence and willingness to shoulder all the blame, obviously trying to shield his boss President Bush, he still was unable to explain how he had overlooked the significances of the reports on his desk which set out the whole story of the degrading and willful abuse of Iraqi prisoners.
In seeing the almost pornographic pictures of the abused detainees, one thing becomes clear and is probably at the root of what took place. That is the attitude of the American soldiers who committed the atrocities - that the Iraqis are not equal to their oppressors - they are of a lower level of humanity. Certainly, the awful sexual humiliations the victims were forced to suffer, the unbelievable degradation, tells its own story - almost as bad as the "Master Race" of the Nazis.
What stands out in relief in this whole horrible episode is the International Red Cross (IRC), an organization which has to be quiet, diplomatic and inoffensive in order to gain entry in any country, to places kept hidden from public scrutiny. If the IRC comes out with exposes, releases potent information publicly, it loses its opportunities to investigate and help the abused of this world.
In the case of the Iraqi prisoners, both in Iraq and others of many nationalities held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the IRC has been quietly warning the US military that prison abuses are taking place. The IRC has now quietly announced that it warned US officials of this abuse in Iraq prisons A YEAR AGO, and significantly, noted that it was not an isolated incident but a "PATTERN," a "systematic pattern of treatment to prisoners," condoned by those in charge of the prisons who supported the abuses.
We know too, and I reported in this column over a year ago, the IRC condemned the treatment of prisoners in the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Messrs Bush and Rumsfeld have spoken glibly about observing the Geneva Conventions on the holding of prisoners, but have knowingly and deliberately held the 600 plus prisoners at Guantanamo Bay for over two years without recourse to lawyers or to family visits. No charges have been laid and the prisoners have no way of knowing if they will ever be released.
Reports that I quoted long ago, said that these prisoners, all Muslims, are "softened" up for lengthy periods by denial of better food, conditions, recreation, kept in solitary, etc. for interrogation. It is now believed that the dirty, abusive, sexual humiliation and even murder of prisoners in Iraq was in preparation for interrogation.
Of course, there is irony in the whole vile matter - that the US torture of prisoners took place in the very prison where Saddam Hussein tortured Iraqi prisoners.
The world’s greatest democracy faces a great challenge. To clear its name, the US has to do more than talk - it has to demonstrate in no uncertain terms that it really believes what it preaches about human rights. It has to release its prisoners in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay. It has to end its ugly occupation of Iraq that has led to the death of over 10,000 Iraqi citizens and the injuries to tens of thousands and the losses suffered by American soldiers for a lost cause, a cause that never existed.
Like Vietnam, the US has made a serious mistake in invading another country and hurting its people. The US cannot be the policeman of the world. It must care its own people, the millions living in poverty and slums and unemployment, because, however you slice it - occupation by a foreign power is always ugly, always wrong.
© 2004 Janet Jagan
© 1999 Cheddi Jagan Research Centre. All rights reserved.
