NOTING Guyana’s level of press freedom, lack of political prisoners, the presence of diversity in senior positions in government, and government’s active pursuit and punishment of anyone liable of human rights abuse or corruption, the United States (US) Department of State’s 2022 country report on human rights practices in Guyana characterised the integrity of Guyana’s government.

This was noted by Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday, as he commented on the report during a press conference.

According to the Vice-President, while the report contained a number of factual errors which the government will be addressing, there are a number of definitive statements in the State Department report that when taken as a whole shows the characterisation of the government.

“Those are key issues — press freedom, no political prisoners; you have people of every race in the government; the government investigates and punishes people for human rights abuse and corruption. These are strong, definitive statements made in that report,” Jagdeo said

He related that several persons have been chosen to place focus on selective aspects of the report, but the government is not too concerned about these aspects, as it will be addressing them.

“There are many factual errors in the report and we intend to correct those. I’ve seen a lot of spin on that,” the Vice-President said.

The report documented that Guyana’s government has taken significant steps to identify, prosecute, and punish officials who have committed human rights abuses or who are engaged in corruption.