CATEGORY:LETTER --------------------- INSIDE GRENADA WEDNESDAY July 04,2007 by Sandra Ferguson Hon. Yolande Bain-Horsford Member of Parliament, St. Andrew’s S.W /Minister of Social Development c/o Ministry of Social Development Ministerial Complex St. George’s Hon. Bain-Horsford, Re Re-sentencing Grenada 13 I write to you in my private, individual capacity in the exercise of my citizen’s rights and responsibilities. Following the 2007 Budget Debate, I wrote to you, commending you on your conduct during the debate - in upholding the dignity and integrity of the honourable House. This time, I write to you to express my concern over some of your public utterances in respect of the recent mitigation exercise/re-sentencing of the Grenada 13. I write to you in your dual capacity: • as a Member of Parliament and a member of the Executive (i.e. a Minister of Government) • and also as a family member of the late Norris Bain, a member of the People’s Revolutionary Government and one of the persons who lost his life in the tragic events which unfolded on the then Fort Rupert on October 19th,1983. HE WHO FEELS IT KNOWS IT Madam. Therefore, I will not engage with what may sound like platitudes. It is understandable that you and your family are still grieving 23 years after the tragic event and you all are under no obligation to forgive anyone. TO FORGIVE OR NOT TO FORGIVE IS A PERSONAL DECISION. However, you are all obligated to RESPECT the RULE OF LAW whether or not the decision of the learned judge pleases you. Honourable Minister, as a member of the Executive,YOUR RESPONSIBILITY GOES BEYOND YOUR PERSONAL LOSS AND GRIEF. As a member of Government and of the political leadership of this country, it requires than in spite of your own personal grief and loss, your responsibility should be to promote HEALING And RECONCILIATION of the nation. Therefore, Hon. Minister, I consider some of your public utterances, particularly your comments on the Judge’s ruling, INAPPROPRIATE and UNFORTUNATE (to say the least). Following the judge’s ruling on Wednesday, June 27th, some of your comments made the newscasts: • I am damn well dissatisfied.(This sounded very much like your Political Leader, a la …”Is mi damn money!) • The judge should be stripped. • The judge and all others have their consciences to deal with. Permit me to observe, Madam Minister, that there was no need for YOU to make those comments. The other members of your family would have represented you well. So I also have to wonder, Hon. Minister, whether you are up to the challenge of leadership in this regard or whether, like your POLITICAL PARTY, you are content to allow the painful events of this period to be ill - used for narrow political advantage. On the programme Sundays with George Grant on Sunday 24th, I heard excerpts of your interview with Michael Bascombe. I understood your comments as follows: • You believe in JUSTICE and THE RULE OF LAW. • In reference to the CONDUCT of your family at the re-sentencing hearing….you noted that you had to control your family since they were getting a little out of order. Later in the week, I noted that you were unable to control one of your brothers who dashed water on the prisoners in the dock. Unfortunate!! It is said that one should not “kick” a man when he is down. The action does not speak ill of the man, it speaks ill of the person who does the “kicking”. • Letting the 13 men out would not bring closure and peace. • What would bring closure is getting the REMAINS of your father and having the men say what happened, how sorry they were. • You described the behaviour of the Grenada 13 in court as laughing and jeering (?). You know Madam Minister, these men also have family, loved ones and well wishers and twenty-three years is enough time to make peace with one’s self. • You were a firm believer in the Lord, a Catholic. The Lord is in charge…consoling and keeping the family together. It appears from your comments, Madam Minister, that you have/had already MADE UP YOUR MIND and NOTHING ELSE BUT A PARTICULAR OUTCOME would have satisfied you. Do you really want justice or do you want vengeance? You want the men to say that they are GUILTY. You want the men to say what happened. How then does YOUR PRE-JUDGMENT facilitate DIALOGUE. As I recall, some years ago, the Leaders apologized and accepted moral responsibility. Whether you and your family believe in the sincerity of their apology and accept the apology, is not their decision. The fact that the remains of loved ones have not been handed over to the families has been a major hindrance to closure. However, Madam, after 23 years we must face up to reality. The answer no longer lies with the “men on the hill”. It is DOCUMENTED that the remains were taken from a mass grave in Calivigny by the American soldiers and brought to the SGUSOM for identification. At that time, the person who exercised authority in the country was none other than Governor-General Sir Paul Scoon. Therefore, it is DISHONEST to keep suggesting/implying that “the men on the hill” know the whereabouts of the remains. They were already in jail! Hon. Minister, you are well placed to exercise moral suasion on the Executive (of which you are a member) to MAKE REPRESENTATION FOR AN INVESTIGATION TO RECOVER THE REMAINS. I suggest, Hon. Minister, that the Hon. Attorney-General and Minister of Foreign Affairs might concern himself with this matter rather than making IRRESPONSIBLE, INAPPROPRIATE statements as he did at the NNP’s political rally in Carriacou. Hon. Minister, we need to ask ourselves HOW did we ever get to that situation in Grenada? There was a POLITICAL CONTEXT. October 19th was unimaginable and inexcusable but it happened. Insanity prevailed. What therefore Madam, is the LESSON for the country and particularly for those who hold LEADERSHIP in the country? I want to suggest to you, Madam, that the families of the Grenada 17 have suffered equal GRIEF and ANGUISH as the families of those were killed on October 19th. I think particularly of the mothers, the wives and the CHILDREN who ALSO grew up without fathers and were STIGMATIZED as the children of murderers and criminals. The mothers were humble, God-faring, hard-working women who did the best they could for their families. The 17 have also experienced the anguish of not being able to care for and comfort their mothers in their last years. Some of these mothers (and fathers) have since passed on. Hon. Minister, the ENTIRE COUNTRY IS STILL IN GRIEF and still traumatized by the events of October 19th, 1983. While you and your family count among the family of “celebrated” victims, there are many other “ordinary folk” who lost loved ones that day. There are many rank and file who were in service of the country (like soldiers of the People’s Revolutionary Army) and for whom, all crashed that day. Some of them drifted astray. There were persons who lost their lives or were detained without trial during the 1979-1983 period, during which your father was part of the political leadership. I believe, Madam, that the CONTINUING STRIFE, HATE AND DIVISIVENESS DOES NOT DO JUSTICE TO THE MEMORY OF THOSE WHO WERE KILLED ON OCTOBER 19TH. I have noted that you have proclaimed strong faith in God and the belief that He is in charge. Some believers might express that as LET GO! LET GOD!! Religion is not my forte. However, I understand that COMPASSION is a strong virtue of the Christian faith. No one is asking you to turn the other cheek. However, in the interest of the PEACE and CLOSURE that the entire country (maybe with the exception of the Political Directorate) is seeking, permit me to make the following suggestion to you in your dual role of family and leadership of the country. I suggest that, with the assistance of your religious counselor(s), you facilitate an open and frank conversation with the mothers of the “victims” and the mothers of “the men on the hill”. It is possible that you will find that both sides share much in common. Maybe, just maybe, this could begin the process of healing and therapy for the nation. Do it in memory of your father! Do it for the nation!! Hon. Minister, the country faces a serious problem of youth/gang violence. How can the older generation facilitate peace if it cannot facilitate peace among itself – between former close friends and colleagues who shared the same selfless commitment, ideals and values for a better Grenada. Please accept, Hon. Minister, my continuing assurances of respect and regard. Sincerely yours, Sandra C.A. Ferguson c/o P.O. Box 750 St. George’s