ADVANCEMENT in the welfare of people living with disabilities, as well as enforcement of the rights of children and women, have been highlighted in Guyana’s report submitted for review by the United Nations Human Rights Council, scheduled for next week in Geneva.
Guyana’s report provides information on recommendations made and whether these were fully or partially implemented by the country, along with an update on pending and noted recommendations.

Those which fell under full implementation relate to PWDs, corporal punishment, water, education, housing, Trafficking in Persons (TIP), health, and domestic and sexual violence. In the interest of PWDs, the government highlighted access to housing through the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) and the National Household Survey of PWDs to ascertain their needs, capacities and living conditions.

The prohibition of corporal punishment in institutional residences and juvenile correctional institutions through the Juvenile Justice Act 2018 was also alluded to. The category also pinpointed improved access to drinking water and sanitation for over 60,000 citizens countrywide through the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI); steps to combat child labour through Welfare Officers and Labour Officers; the allocation of 77 per cent of all lands from 2015 to November 2019 to low and middle income families; the establishment of safe houses in relation to TIP and more.

With regards to health, the government noted its progressions in the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets to end the global epidemic of HIV, which saw the country achieving the first “90” ahead of the 2020 time-line; the implementation of the Health and Family Life Education curriculum (HFLE) in schools; the construction of sanitary facilities and septic tanks to manage sewage through a nationwide program; the ongoing construction of SMART Hospitals and the fact that Guyana remains free of both yellow fever and measles due the high immunisation coverage above 95 per cent in 2018.

On the domestic and sexual violence front, the government pointed to the full implementation and enforcement of the Sexual Offences Act; the establishment of the Sexual Offences Court and no extrajudicial killings since the coalition came into power. Under the category of partial implementation of recommendations, the government listed matters in relation to Indigenous Peoples, human rights institutions and treaty obligation, non-discrimination and LGBT groups, justice and security sector reforms and recommendation with regards to the affairs of children and women.

The government stated that Guyana is yet to ratify the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 169 although active engagements continue with the National Toshao’s Council (NTC), the Indigenous Peoples’ Commission and the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs.

The report indicated that constitutional rights commissions such as the Rights of Child Commission, Human Rights Commission, Women and Gender Equality Commission, Indigenous Peoples’ Commission and Ethnic Relations Commission (after several years of dormancy), are being funded and remain functional under the current government. However, outstanding efforts are ongoing to make these much more efficient as the report stated: “The Green State Development Strategy Vision 2040 seeks to undertake a comprehensive review on the performance of National Human Rights institutions. In the case of the Human Rights Commission, the current structure will be revisited. Further changes would be effected through reform of the Constitution. A bill to operationalise a constitutional reform commission was put to a bipartisan committee of parliament in 2017 to pave the way for constitutional reform.”
With regards to justice and security sector reform, the need for measures to safeguard the rights of prisoners was highlighted.

Meanwhile, although legislative framework for the protection of children and children’s rights has been enhanced with the enactment of the Juvenile Justice Act, it was noted that a Sexual Offenses Registry is still being assembled by a multi-stakeholder committee. Even so, the Gender Affairs Bureau (GAB), the Rights of the Child Commission and the Child Care and Protection Agency (CPA) continue to work to address the needs of children.

Recommendations which remain on the government’s agenda as pending include the death penalty with the government indicating its willingness to have a referendum or other consultative processes to ascertain the will of the Guyanese people on this issue.
Those in the category of noted by the government include: prohibition against torture – Guyana has not requested assistance from Group of Friends of the Convention and the removal of defamation as a criminal offence – the Office of the Prime Minister has been working with the Attorney General Chambers towards the decriminalisation of defamation and those amendments before the end of 2020.

Guyana’s first and second UPR reviews took place in May 2010 and January 2015, respectively. The delegation of Guyana will be headed by Permanent Representative of Guyana to the UN Office at Geneva, Ambassador John R. Deep Ford. Meanwhile, the three country representatives serving as rapporteurs for the review of Guyana are: Australia, Chile and Pakistan. Recommendations are likely to be posed to Guyana during its review and the UPR Working Group is scheduled to adopt the recommendations made on January 31, 2020.

The UPR is a unique process which involves a review of the human rights records of all UN Member States. It provides the opportunity for each State to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to fulfil their human rights obligations.