…US report notes Guyana’s progress in upholding human rights
…PM says report balanced, acknowledges credible 2015 polls

THE United States Government has hailed Guyana’s progress in upholding human rights, but urged that attention be paid to what it described as harsh and potentially life-threatening prison conditions and laws that criminalise same-sex sexual activity, although acknowledging that the latter were not enforced.

According to its 2017 Human Rights Report, Washington recognised that Guyana is a multi-party democracy, observing that national and regional elections were held in 2015, and a coalition of parties APNU+AFC won. The report also acknowledged that despite the PPP’s claims of voter-fraud, “International and local observers considered the elections free, fair, and credible.”

In an immediate reaction to the report, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo who has responsibility for Governance and Public Information, told the Guyana Chronicle that except for the inherited problem of over-crowding of prisons, the US Country Report did not indicate any serious human rights violations in Guyana for 2016. “For me, it is a balanced report that recognises Guyana as an open and free country that has distanced itself, since 2015, from blatant human rights violations, including extra-judicial killings and wanton official corruption,” Nagamootoo expressed.

He said importantly, the report characterises Guyana as a “multi-party democracy” and declares that the APNU+AFC government came to office after “free, fair and credible” elections. This, he said, would rubbish the claims by the opposition PPP that those elections had been rigged.

“The report stated that the Guyana Government generally respected judicial independence and impartiality, though there continued to be delays, but trials are fair. Mr Nagamootoo said the report failed to take note of consultations that were held between the executive and the judiciary to deal with the backlog of cases, and the subsequent appointment of temporary magistrates and puisne judges to address the issue. Nagamootoo himself had spearheaded those consultations.

Meanwhile, the report indicated that there have been no reports of political detainees or prisoners, and government does not interfere in the privacy or correspondence of citizens, or with families and their homes. Additionally, Nagamootoo said in what appeared to be a departure from post-2015 practices, the coalition government has a clean record of respect for the press and the right to freedom of expression.

“The independent media were active and at times expressed a wide variety of views without restriction,” the report acknowledged. In addition, the report noted that the coalition respected academic freedom and freedom of citizens to assemble and protest.

The US Country Report also recognised the holding of local government elections in 2016, and mentioned that those elections were last held in 1994, which would be a serious indictment of the former PPP administration. That administration had been cited in previous reports for “pervasive corruption” and under it Guyana had slumped to the lowest level of the world corruption perception index.

“No wonder then that the current report alluded that there remained that widespread public perception, though recognising that the new government has effectively implemented criminal laws against corrupt practices. Our government would take a deep look at the report though as a first reaction, it does appear that Guyana has stepped forward into the sunlight of better human rights practices, since elections were last held in 2015,” the prime minister asserted.

Elections and Political Participation
Under the subhead, elections and political participation, the report stated that general elections resulted in the first change of the ruling party in 23 years. It also mentioned that local government elections were held in March, 2016 in all eligible communities throughout the country and were considered free, fair, and credible by international observers.

Although the law provides for local government elections every three years, there had been no local government elections since 1994, the report cited. On the issue of participation of women and minorities, the report emphasises that Guyana has no laws limiting participation of women and/or members of minorities in the political process, and they did participate.

On the sore issue of corruption and lack of transparency in government, the report stated that the law provides for criminal penalties for corruption by officials, and the government generally implemented the law effectively. “There were isolated reports of government corruption during the year, and administration officials responded to the reports. There remained a widespread public perception of corruption involving officials at all levels, including the police and the judiciary.

Action on corruption
The report cited that in March 2016, police officer Louie Dublin was prosecuted for trafficking in narcotics and then in July the government urged the public to desist from “enabling” corrupt law enforcement officers. On financial disclosures, the report noted that although the law requires public officials to declare their assets to an integrity commission, the commission had not been constituted by year’s end. The law sets out both criminal and administrative sanctions for nondisclosure. If a person fails to file a declaration, that fact can be published in the daily newspapers and the Official Gazette.

Failure to comply with the law can lead to a summary conviction, fines, and imprisonment for six to 12 months. If property is not disclosed as required, the magistrate convicting the defendant must order the defendant to make a full disclosure within a set time. No such publication or convictions occurred during the first nine months of the year.

Back in February this year, government swore in three of the four persons nominated to be members of the Integrity Commission. Former Land Court judge, Kumar Doraisami, who has been named Chairman, along with attorney Rosemary Benjamin-Noble and Pandit Rabindranath Persaud received their instruments of appointment from Minister of State Joseph Harmon. The fourth person, attorney Thandi McAllister, was unavoidably absent from the ceremony.