Statement on Lusignan atrocities

SASOD extends its condolences to the families and
loved ones of the six children and five adults killed
in Lusignan on Saturday morning. We urge that full
support is given to the persons who survived this
massacre, especially the children.

As a society, we seem to have dealt with the violence
which escalated since 2002 on the East Coast by
becoming desensitised to the news of murders which
happen far from us. The more gruesome pictures in
sections of the print media have done little to
galvanise change, but rather it has allowed us to
become dispassionate about murder and violence. There
seems to be little improvement in the capacity of the
security forces to bring the perpetrators of crime to
justice.

Not only has crime grown more sophisticated, but the
pathology of the criminals seems to indicate total
disregard for life and a savagery which seems to have
caught the society completely off guard. The security
forces should then receive all support in order to
deal with this extremity of murder and violence and
should be able to request that support from within and
outside of Guyana.

In a society in which our diversity has been
manipulated to pit us against each other, SASOD urges
all Guyanese to use the expressions of our collective
anger and grief to continue to advocate for the
changes needed in our society to ensure that all
citizens can enjoy a safe and secure life.