FORTY-FIVE secondary school students and teachers from five different schools in Georgetown and along the East Coast Demerara met at the Georgetown Club to participate in a ‘No Witness, No Justice’ workshop to promote witness participation in the judicial system. The aim of No Witness, No Justice is to enable young people to become successful learners, confident individuals, and responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society. The United States Embassy hosted the April 11 workshop following a region-wide No Witness, No Justice Youth Network Conference held in Barbados last December.

According to a press statement from the Georgetown-based U.S. Embassy, the Guyana workshop sought to spread awareness of the importance of citizen participation in the justice system throughout secondary schools in Guyana.  No Witness, No Justice introduces key concepts, including democracy and justice, rights and responsibilities, and identities and diversity.  These concepts are linked with real life processes that make up the judicial system in Guyana, specifically the role of a witness in a court case. The students and teachers used critical thinking skills in the workshop and they learned the reasons why it is crucial for citizens to take informed and responsible action.  

During the workshop, students from Marian Academy, Annandale Secondary, Cummings Lodge Secondary, Central High, Charlestown Secondary, and Brickdam Secondary schools participated in interactive training sessions, including a mock trial, to help them to understand the importance of being a witness to ensure an effective justice system.  Judith Mursalin, State Counsel from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution, outlined the description of the court and how the court system in Guyana functions.
 Speaking to the group of students via video message, U.S. Ambassador D. Brent Hardt reportedly emphasised the importance of ‘doing the right thing” by reporting crimes to the police and giving evidence in court.  
Ambassador Hardt reiterated that without witnesses there is no rule of law and no justice can be obtained. Director of Public Prosecutions, Shalimar Ali-Hack, whose office partnered with the Embassy on the conference, reinforced this message, noting crimes are unlawful regardless of who commits them, whether adults or young persons, family, or friends.

Ali-Hack, in a recorded video message, urged the participants not to be afraid to testify and not allow anyone to threaten them not to testify.  “If witnesses do not testify there will be no justice” the DPP stated.
 The No Witness, No Justice programme forms part of a larger initiative – the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, or CBSI. CBSI is an essential part of Hemispheric U.S. security strategy focused on citizen safety. It is a partnership that fulfills the commitment to deepen regional security cooperation that President Barack Obama made at the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago in April 2009.  Through CBSI, the United States, CARICOM member nations, and the Dominican Republic are working together to reduce illicit trafficking, increase public safety and security, and promote social justice.