The Griot | Stories Roots Legacy

Guyana, 2002: The Camp Street Prison Escape

The Griot | Stories Roots Legacy

Show Notes

On February 23, 2002, five prisoners escaped from the Camp Street prison in Georgetown, Guyana, on the day the country marked its Republic anniversary. What followed, according to Guyanese reporting, was a wave of violence the country had not seen before: about twenty-one police officers shot dead and many civilians killed. This episode tells what the record shows, what is disputed, including the death toll, and what I could not confirm. Sources: Stabroek News and Kaieteur News reporting and retrospectives. The number of people killed in the years after the escape is described by Stabroek News as disputed, and the episode says so.

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