Ron Somerset, 18.
Shemroy Bouyea, 18.
Allan Lewis, 46.
Three Black men shot dead by police. Not killed because they were gunmen, fugitives from the law nor harboring fugitives. Not shot while committing an armed offense or in gang warfare or tribalism. Killed while unarmed, peacefully protesting an electricity rate increase. Killed. By. Po-lice.
Linden is a bauxite mining town 65 miles from Georgetown, the capital. It is named after former Prime Minister / President Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham and is comprised of the smaller villages Mackenzie, Wismar and Christianburg, making it Guyana’s second largest town. Historically,
The uprising in Linden began as a protest against a government-proposed 300% hike in the electric rate.
International standards governing the use of force and firearms include the UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the UN Basic Minimum Standards on the Use of Force and Firearms. These provide, inter alia, that deadly force should be used only as a last resort in response to imminent threat of death or serious injury and only when all other measures have been exhausted.
There is an uprising of massive proportions taking place in Linden Guyana. In early July protestors from the Linden communities began daily protests over the lack of jobs [there is 70%80%unemployment] and their abominable living conditions in a country rich in mineral resources such as bauxite and gold. On the 18th July three men were murdered and many more injured when the Guyanese police attacked the protestors with teargas, pellets and live ammunition.
The police massacre on July 18th, 2012 was unprecedented in its barbarity. They fired live ammunition into a crowd peacefully protesting against a 300% hike in their electricity rate. Sure this is the same police force that for many years was led by a rapist; lit an innocent 14 year old boy’s genitals on fire and regularly robs and terrorize the populace. But on July 18th, 2012 they crossed a line that triggered something altogether different in the people of Linden. Now, everything had changed but not everyone felt that way though as I was soon finding out.
