Cops burned boy's genitals?
GEORGETOWN - POLICE in Guyana said on Saturday two officers had been arrested over accusations of setting fire to a 14-year-old boy's genitals in a case creating an uproar in the South American nation.
The incident is the latest in a series of rights accusations against President Bharrat Jagdeo's security forces in the former British colony of 750,000 people.
Relatives and rights groups said the boy was tortured at a police station in the rural community of Leonora after being arrested this week in connection with a murder case.
'The genitals of a minor were doused with inflammable liquid and set ablaze. The inside of (his) mouth burnt with cigarettes and extensive wounds sustained from severe beatings despite a senior officer being reportedly in charge of the investigation,' the Guyana Human Rights Association said.
A lawyers' group urged a public inquiry, calling the case 'chilling' and 'abhorrent.' Police said on Saturday that two officers had been arrested and would be investigated over allegations of 'excessive force.'
The case follows a scandal in March over allegations that security forces placed a suspect on an ants' nest as they sought information over cocaine trafficking. Security forces are also accused of torturing people in several other high-profile cases in 2007 and 2008. -- REUTERS
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking...ry_449040.html
Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:07 pm
