As Red Thread Condemns Planned Confrontation with SOCU Head Karimbaksh

By Alethea Grant | HGP Nightly News |

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA — The constitutional Women and Gender Equality Commission (WGEC) has launched a scathing rebuke against the Guyana Police Force (GPF), demanding an immediate, independent inquiry and institutional restructuring to dismantle what it describes as an entrenched “culture of sexual misconduct and impunity” enabling predators within the state security apparatus.

The commission’s intervention comes amid escalating national outrage surrounding allegations of rape and threatening behavior leveled against Deputy Commissioner of Police and Head of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), Fizal Karimbaksh.

Warning that senior officers who consider themselves “untouchable” must not stand above the law, the WGEC revealed that systemic exploitation is not confined to isolated senior posts, but extends into foundational training environments—citing explosive reports of illicit civilian access, alcohol consumption, and sexual exploitation directly inside the Police Training Academy.

Police Training Academy Breaches: Exploitation Silenced by Fear

In an official dispatch issued on Monday, the WGEC highlighted alarming conditions within police training facilities, where young recruits face coercive exploitation:

• Abuse at the Academy: The Commission detailed accounts from trainees disclosing that sexual abuse, coercion, and abuses of power have become normalized routines, enforced by systemic intimidation and fear of professional victimization.
• Mid-January Regulations Breach: The WGEC cited a specific breach of disciplinary protocols occurring in mid-January, where male officers, instructors, and external civilians were granted unauthorized access to the Police Training Academy quarters, leading to alcohol consumption and sexual misconduct on the compound.
• Demands for Independent Restructuring: The Commission stressed that internal police investigations are incapable of curing deep-rooted institutional complicity, demanding an independent, external overhaul to protect female trainees and junior ranks from predatory senior officers.

Red Thread Rebukes Minister Walrond Over ‘Formal Confrontation’

The firestorm intensified following remarks made by Minister of Home Affairs Oneidge Walrond during an appearance on the public affairs program Starting Point, where she outlined the investigative steps being deployed by detectives:

“The investigation would entail statements from persons who they think might be appropriate to get statements, and statements from the accused who is the Deputy Commissioner Karimbaksh, and to hold a formal confrontation,” Minister Walrond explained during the broadcast.

The suggestion of a face-to-face confrontation sparked sharp condemnation from women’s rights advocacy group Red Thread:

• Violation of the Sexual Offences Act: Red Thread coordinator Karen de Souza stated the organization was “appalled” that the state or police administration would consider forcing a rape complainant into a face-to-face confrontation with her alleged abuser.
• Secondary Traumatization: The organization emphasized that subjecting a victim of sexual assault to direct physical confrontation with an accused superior officer directly breaches the protections, evidentiary safeguards, and spirit of Guyana’s Sexual Offences Act 2010, exposing the complainant to severe secondary psychological trauma and coercion.

Minister Walrond Rejects Criticism: ‘Comments Were Mischaracterized’

In response to the public outcry, Minister Walrond issued a public statement via Facebook firmly rejecting Red Thread’s assertions:

• No Directive Given: Walrond maintained that her televised comments describing traditional police confrontation routines were taken out of context and mischaracterized.
• Statutory Compliance: The Minister stressed that she had issued no directives instructing detectives to force the complainant into Karimbaksh’s presence, nor had she authorized any procedure inconsistent with the protections outlined in the Sexual Offences Act.

With civil society bodies, constitutional commissions, and legal advocates uniting in condemnation, public pressure continues to mount on the administration to immediately place Deputy Commissioner Karimbaksh on administrative leave to guarantee an impartial investigation.