Last Updated on Monday, 5 October 2026, 9:47 by Written By Denis Chabrol
Transparency International Guyana Inc. (TIGI), the local chapter of the Germany-headquartered Transparency International, on Monday called for an independent probe into allegations of rape and sexual behaviour against Deputy Police Commissioner of Police Fazil Karimbaksh, Head of the Special Organised Crime Unit.
“TIGI therefore calls for an immediate, credible and independent investigation, with investigators and oversight demonstrably outside the authority, professional orbit and institutional influence of Deputy Commissioner Karimbaksh,” TIGI said in a statement.
Other demands are a clear public statement that the complainant will not be compelled to participate in any face-to-face “confrontation” with the accused; independent legal, psychosocial and protective support for the complainant, as well as safeguards for all potential witnesses, and immediate preservation of potentially relevant records, including communications, duty rosters, electronic data, CCTV footage, access logs and other material.
TIGI justified its call for an independent probe, saying the very serious allegations have been levelled against an a Deputy Police Commissioner and head of a major specialised unit while the complainant is a serving police rank. The organisation disagreed with the posture taken by the Guyana Police Force that a team had been established to conduct a thorough investigation. “In such circumstances, an investigation conducted by an undisclosed internal police team cannot simply be accepted as independent, impartial, or capable of commanding public confidence,” TIGI said.
The transparency organisation said the Guyana Police Force has announced only that the Commissioner of Police established a team to investigate but has not identified the composition of that team, its reporting structure, whether its members are junior to the Deputy Commissioner, the measures adopted to protect the complainant and witnesses, or the safeguards against interference—actual or perceived. Minister Oneidge Walrond has similarly said that a police team would investigate, take statements and conduct what she described as a “formal confrontation.”
“Those omissions are not minor administrative details. They go to the integrity of the investigation,” TIGI said.
TIGI says it has no confidence in an unnamed police investigative unit tasked with examining allegations against one of the Force’s most senior officers while he remains in office and continues to exercise rank, influence and institutional standing.
“The public is being asked to trust a process without being told who will conduct it, whether the investigators are subordinate to the accused, what independent oversight exists, or how the complainant will be protected from intimidation, retaliation or re-traumatisation,” the organisation, originally an affiliate named Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc, also said.
According to TIGI, a Deputy Commissioner cannot remain at work as though nothing has occurred while officers—who may be his juniors, colleagues or subordinates—are expected to investigate allegations against him. No credible anti-corruption, human-rights or rule-of-law framework would regard that as an adequate safeguard.
TTIGI suggested that Mr Karimbaksh be sent on administrative leave- not punishment or a finding of guilt- but an essential protective measure to preserve evidence, protect witnesses and complainants, prevent real or perceived interference, and protect the integrity of a process whose credibility is already in question. The association called on home affairs minister Oneidge Walrond to back up her words with action that that senior officer be sent on leave pending the outcome of the probe. “TIGI agrees—and insists that the Government now move beyond expressions of personal opinion to decisive action,” TIGI said.
TIGI says it is equally alarmed by the home affairs minister’s reference to a “formal confrontation” between the complainant and the accused. Section 42 of Guyana’s Sexual Offences Act expressly protects complainants from being required to recount their complaint in the accused’s presence unless they wish to do so. It further restricts circumstances in which a complainant may be required to view or be in the presence of an alleged perpetrator.
TIGI also called on the government and the Guyana Police Force must state immediately whether any direct encounter has been proposed between the complainant and Deputy Commissioner Karimbaksh. If so, they must disclose the legal basis for it, the complainant’s fully voluntary consent, the safeguards in place, and whether she has access to independent legal and psychosocial support, the organisation said.
“No complainant in a sexual-offence investigation should be compelled, pressured, persuaded or procedurally manoeuvred into facing the person she alleges raped or threatened her,” TIGI said.
TIGI also called for the swift reconstitution of the Police Service Commission but in the interim said President Irfaan Ali, Commissioner of Police, attorney general and the minister of home Affairs must identify and publicly disclose the lawful administrative mechanism by which Deputy Commissioner Karimbaksh can be immediately relieved of operational duties, without prejudice to his constitutional right to due process.
The Police Service Commission, TIGI says, is not presently constituted, although its constitutional role includes disciplinary control over senior police officers. “The Commission’s absence cannot be allowed to become a convenient excuse for executive paralysis while a Deputy Commissioner facing grave allegations continues to serve in an active operational capacity,” TIGI says.
TIGI says the President Irfaan Ali, as Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, must urgently exercise the leadership required to protect public confidence in the Guyana Police Force and the administration of justice.
