2006 April 24
https://search.wikileaks.org/p...GEORGETOWN372_a.html
GOG CABINET MEMBER ASSASSINATED
1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Cabinet member and People's Progressive Party (PPP) insider Satyadeow Sawh was gunned down at his home April 22 in an apparent targeted assassination. Most observers detect a political link behind the killing. Regardless of the motive, this adds more fuel to the fire as pre-election tensions continue rising in Guyana. President Jagdeo plans to request external assistance in tracking down those responsible. END SUMMARY --------------------------------------- Sawh: An Uncontroversial Cabinet Figure ---------------------------------------
2. (U) Satyadeow Sawh, Minister of Agriculture (acting), Fisheries, Other Crops and Livestock, was murdered at approximately 12:30 a.m. April 22 at his home in La Bonne Intention (LBI), East Coast Demerara. Indications are that six to ten masked men armed with AK-47s invaded Sawh's premises and killed Sawh, two siblings, and a security guard. Three others were injured; Sawh's wife was unharmed.
3. (U) Sawh was a jocular, well-liked, fifty year-old dual national of Guyana and Canada, where he spent much of his adult life and remained politically active in the PPP's overseas arm. After the PPP won the 1992 national election he served as Guyana's ambassador in Caracas. Sawh returned to Guyana in 1996, taking a seat in the National Assembly and assuming a cabinet position through the Fisheries, Other Crops and Livestock portfolio. He took on the additional responsibility of acting Minster of Agriculture in 2003, but did not appear to have higher political ambitions. His handling of severe flooding in coastal agricultural areas in early 2006 drew some criticism. --------------------------------------------- -- Motive Unclear but Signs Point to Assassination --------------------------------------------- --
4. (SBU) Various theories are circulating about what is behind the killings, but these reflect more conjecture than hard evidence. Even Jagdeo and his Police Commissioner Winston Felix have different opinions - Jagdeo sees a political motive while Felix suspects robbery. Sawh's killing does bear marks of a political assassination. It comes on the heels of the April 6 murder of prominent local contractor Gazz Sheermohamed and the January 30 murder of talk-show host Ronald Waddell (ref C) in a similar fashion. Robbery does not appear to have been a primary motive in any of these cases. Sawh's killers did not take much from his house; Sheermohamed's killers left a large amount of cash in the car where he was shot. -- One theory is that militant anti-government elements are behind the Sawh and Sheermohamed killings in a bid to provoke chaos. This, according to their twisted logic, would lure the international community into taking a more active role in Guyana's internal politics and lead to the imposition of a shared government model. The fact that Sawh's assailants came and left on foot supports this theory - Buxton, notorious as the nucleus of armed resistance against the government, is only three miles from Sawh's LBI home. This is certainly the PPP's line: in his April 22 address to the nation, Jagdeo urged Guyanese "to prevent extremists from hijacking the political agenda". The Cabinet has also announced its concern that the attack might be "part of a sinister plot to impact the outcome" of the upcoming elections. -- A second theory is that these killings are somehow related to the victims' involvement in unspecified criminal activity. Such rumors about prominent Guyanese are commonplace. Although Sawh's work did bring him into contact with some very suspect individuals, most observers feel he was relatively clean. -- A third theory is that Sawh's killing was a random armed robbery. But few believe this given the operation's efficiency and the use of assault rifles unavailable to the GEORGETOWN 00000372 002 OF 002 common criminal in Guyana.
5. (U) Elections are due in 2006 and Guyana has a long history of violence around election time. This year is shaping up no differently. Brazen robberies are occurring more frequently, often in broad daylight. The levels of lawlessness and fear in Guyana are rising sharply. In late February, over thirty AK-47s and other powerful weapons were found missing from an army storehouse; then a heavily-armed group conducted a paramilitary-style operation in the Eccles and Agricola communities, executing eight after blockading the road to the international airport (ref A). Emerging reports indicate ballistic tests confirm that weapons used in Sawh's killing match those used in the Eccles/Agricola operation.
6. (U) Several organizations, including the main opposition party PNC/R, have issued statements condemning the killings. Post plans to coordinate with the UK, Canadian, EU, and UN missions to issue a joint statement condemning these acts of violence, similar to the statement made after Waddell's murder.
7. (U) Post's Emergency Action Committee (EAC) met April 22 at 11:00 a.m. to discuss the killing and its implications (reported septel). ------- Comment -------
8. (SBU) Although Sawh's killing has horrified Georgetown, it has not truly surprised the political set. Post's interlocutors have warned for over a year that the upcoming election season would bring with it political violence. No one expects this to be the final salvo, although one hopes the ruling PPP will resist the temptation to use Sawh's killing to reap political gain by pinning this on the opposition without hard evidence. The mood in Georgetown is marked both by somber introspection and by indignation with the security forces' inability to solve - let alone prevent - any of this year's execution-style killings. Calling Sawh's death the first assassination of a government minister in Guyana's history, the independent Stabroek News' April 23 editorial stated flatly, "We have crossed the Rubicon". Others are echoing this theme - vigilante justice rules in Guyana, which now resembles a big ranch more than a nation-state. Felix will come under ever greater scrutiny and pressure to resign until he can demonstrate tangible progress in solving these cases. It is certainly in the USG's interest to provide whatever assistance possible to help the overwhelmed police force in its investigations. END COMMENT. BULLEN