It appears that over recent weeks the Royal Anguilla Police has made significant strides towards solving a number of cases related to violence and death that have taken place on the island. The community had been frustrated by the fact that things did not appear to be moving at a pace of their liking and, as a result, began apportioning blame at any convenient target. The Royal Anguilla Police Force was a recipientof a considerable amount of this criticism, but Commissioner Rudolph Proctor stood his ground on the capability of his officers to meet up to the challenge of dealing with the investigatory aspects of the issue.
The Commissioner pointed to the statistics highlighting that of the 20 persons over the last 12 years who died as the result of violent acts, in 13 of those cases persons have been convicted; and 4 cases are being held up because of the unwillingness of witnesses to come forward. All in all a commendable achievement, but where the sensitivities of the family and friends of victims are involved, rightly or wrongly, that unsolved case that affects them is the only measure of success which they accept. However, there is indisputable validity to the Commissioner’s strong position that he needs the support of the entire community in order to restore “peace and quiet” to our island.And to quote his statement in The Anguillian newspaper of June 15, 2012: “If you bring a person (police officer) fromTimbuktu, he needs information, human intelligence”.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Commissioner and his Officers for their achievements, and to commend the Government of Anguilla for finding the resources – in excess of 1 million EC dollars – to fund the “human, technological and other resourcesnecessary to improve the RAPF’s technical capacity in recognized investigatory techniques”. Both these kudos indicate that we are trending in the right direction, to deal with the issues of violence and crime, from the standpoint of bringing the culprits to justice.
And lest readers may have missed two very touching articles by two young Anguillians in the latter pages of The Anguillian newspaper of June 22, 2012, let me invite you to look at that edition again. These young people were both addressing the matter of the recent spate of violence and gun crimes in Anguilla. Ironically, the articles appeared in the same paper thatincluded my column:“There is still hope”.I was at the time speaking about positive young people and both of them fit that description. The first article is by Alexander Orchard, a young Anguillian furthering his education abroad, only to return home on a short vacation this February to end up the victim of another senseless shooting in the very precincts of his family home. Fortunately, Alexander survived to respond to the effects of the ordeal. Alexander concludes his expose by saying: “Whatever you are fighting so desperately for now will fade away and leave you with nothing, or turn around and end your life. It isn’t worth it! Throw your guns in the sea!Anguillaand its people and their love will outlast you — and whatever it is you think you need so badly. God BlessAnguilla!” Alexander is pointing to the senseless nature of the violence; the impact it is having on the society; and the inevitable demise of those who perpetrate these criminal acts. What Alexander has to say comes from his personal experience not empathy — the “real deal”. It carries more weight than anything the other twelve thousand commentators onAnguillahave to say. Yet he says it without malice or revenge — simply an appeal to the perpetrators to stop destroying his homeland and its people.
The second article is by Tahirah K-A Banks a young woman who describes herself as an Artist/Entrepreneur/Anguillian. Tahirah taking the issue “head-on” says:“I write to highlight what I believe is the most fundamental flaw in our society: Accountability!” She then explains the concept and its importance in building self-esteem in individuals and, as a result, the wider society. To her mind, following that path from a very young age can be a formula for preventing the occurrence of the issues we face today. Her most powerful admonition is: “As Anguillians, we must stop pointing the finger. We must accept responsibility for our lives and our communities. We must stop playing GAMES. People are dying and we continue to play the blame game.”Tahirah is directing this message to all of us — and to my mind she adequately describes a root cause of the situations we find ourselves in today as an aspiring nation.
So from the Police, to the many bright young stars in our community, there is reason to be encouraged. But what remains as an element of frustration, affecting many of us on a daily basis, is the flawed thinking and reasoning that abounds inAnguilla. I have noticed that a number of people interpret facts or information in a manner that fits the positions that they wish to believe. Some of these individuals have Talk Shows while others call Talk Shows. At any rate, there seems to be a considerable audience who tend to accept anything that they hear over the broadcast media and, as a consequence, get caught up in this misinformation. What also amazes me is that persons who would not spend ten minutes to read an article in the newspaper would spend several hours listening to a talk show program that is rife with gossip and abusive comments. I am hopeful that the events of these past days will bring some moderation and circumspection to the comments made on various Radio Stations and other public platforms.
Of course, I am referring to the recent High Court case where Mr. Edison Baird, sued Mr. Lyndon Duncan for defamation of character. In this matter the Court has ruled that Mr. Duncan should pay Mr. Baird $40,000 as well as his legal fees to be determined/assessed at a later date. Mr. Baird’s suit was as a result of a vicious attack on his character by Mr. Duncan from a public platform. What is evenmore alarming is that they are of the same political party and could have therefore discussed their differences more discretely.I cannot speculate as to the reasons why Mr. Duncan would have believed that a political platform is the best place to attack Mr. Baird on his dissatisfaction with his performance and his credibility — but in his defense, at the Court, he indicated that his reprimand of Mr. Baird was done out of love and in the interest of having him reflect on his conduct. While this appears to be a very curious defense, it goes to show that manysupporters and party loyalists see themselves as owning elected officials — thus considering them literally puppets. As a matter of fact, in his response, Mr. Baird made a similar point.Little wonder then that there is a trend developing where certain professionals seem to want to promote the election of candidates who they feel they can manipulate.
What is equally worrisome is that just recently a number of callers to a Talk Show program expressed the view that Mr. Duncan was in some way right to make his statements because persons from both sides of the political spectrum make libelous and defamatory statements. Even an elected Minister of Government suggested that politicians needed to have “broad shoulders” and shrug off such defamatory statements made against them and get on with their work. The same Minister seemed to suggest that he was in some way a paragon of that virtue.
It is well known who is the main perpetrator of libelous and defamatory statements in the Anguilla House of Assembly. I myself have engaged him in legal action leading to financial redress on his part on a number of occasions. It is also well known that members of the House of Assembly on the Government side have been using their “parliamentary privilege” to impugn their opponents in and out of the House. And above of all, the AUM seems to have a full complement of callers and hosts who seem to relish in abusive and uncivil comments on the airwaves.
It is unfortunate that Mr. Duncan is the “sacrificial lamb” because there are many persons who have made more damaging and libelous statements than him. And I am sure that there are those who are in sympathy with the impact such charges could have on his family as a result of his unbridled comments. In fact, there are many who would say that Mr. Duncan is by nature a very genteel character. Certainly, I have found him to be such — when away from the emotion of the political arena. But the time has come for the supporters of the AUM to understand that the right of “freedom of expression” is not a license to abuse persons opposed to their views. This is the time for them to be responsible in the things they say in the public media. I strive to live up to that standard — not because I seek to avoid legal action — but because I place a high premium on saying what is true and fair. Let me suggest (not facetiously) that to ease the burden of Mr. Duncan’s ransom they should pass the “hat around” among themselves to help a “fallen warrior” from their “wars of propaganda.” Another casualty of an extended campaign!
This should also send a message to so-called “investigative journalists” many who have not yet come to an understanding of what constitutes balance in their craft. Neither do they appear to understand the difference between evidence and speculation. One discerning listener to some of these programs said to me: “Not only is there a total lack of regard for ascertaining fact through the investigatory process — but in many cases they need to begin by launchinga comprehensive investigation into syntax and grammar, first!”True!!English is still our first language!!
