ATTORNEY General and Minister of Legal Affairs Basil Williams will on October 10 open public consultations on the draft of the Witness Protection and Protected Disclosures (Whistleblower) bills.According to information from the ministry, the consultation will take place at the Pegasus Hotel (Savannah Suite) and will hear remarks from Minister Williams and other representatives.
Back in November last year then Minister of Governance Raphael Trotman had mentioned that with the enactment of the bill, a Witness Protection Programme will be established for the protection of witnesses who give evidence in the courts of Guyana. “The legislation would ensure protection of witnesses and their families against intimidation and/or physical harm during and after their involvement in court proceedings,” Minister Trotman had said.
Protection for state witnesses in criminal matters here has been a thorny issue over the years. This had come into sharp focus when a number of high-profile murder cases collapsed because of the lack of witnesses.
Trotman had said the bill will include several measures such as the establishment of safe houses, granting assistance to participants and the provision of new identities where necessary. He said too that the Witness Protection Bill which will subsequently lead to the development of the Witness Protection Programme, forms part of a CARICOM crime security initiative. It was pointed out that Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica have already been collaborating in the area of witness protection by facilitating the movement of witnesses before, during and after trials. Barbados is also participating in the process, but to a lesser extent.
Only recently Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan said that the absence of a witness-protection plan has affected government’s efforts to go after public officials who have allegedly stolen the State’s finances and properties.
Minister Ramjattan told reporters at a news conference hosted by his party, the Alliance For Change (AFC) that it is difficult for the government to take such matters before the courts as witnesses have refused to give written statements, because they are fearful for their lives. He said the lack of a witness-protection plan for witnesses and their families is a major hurdle that the government is currently fighting, while noting that the Witness Protection Bill will be tabled in the National Assembly soon; but until then, there is nothing the administration can do. “You can give a lot of the evidence to an auditor, but when it comes to criminal prosecutions, you have to do the written statements and some of these persons who have to give and testify when they know what the investigations are all about have been telling some of the police… that they are scared to death,” he said. In many cases the minister said, the witnesses are friends of the suspects, making it even more difficult for them to come forward with the information. He said there are many stumbling blocks and noted that the witnesses had no issue providing information to the forensic auditors, but will not go beyond that.