THE Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) , a constitutional body mandated under Article 212A, is reminding all Guyanese that the Racial Hostility Act Chapter 23:01 makes it an offence for persons to wilfully excite or attempt to excite hostility or ill-will against any section of the public or against any person on the grounds of their race. At the same time, a statement issued by the ERC yesterday contends that the Representation of the People Act Chapter 1:03, as amended by the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act, Act No. 1 of 2001, prohibits any person or political party from causing racial or ethnic violence, and makes it an offence for any person who publishes or causes to be made or published any statement, or takes any action, which results or can result in racial or ethnic violence or hatred among the people.
“The Ethnic Relations Commission takes this opportunity to remind all media houses of their obligation to report fairly and accurately, and to exercise sound editorial judgment in their coverage of the national elections,” the ERC says.
“The Commission calls on all political parties to exercise restraint in their final campaigning and to exercise prudence and decorum as they enter into the homestretch of the 2011 national elections.
“We call on all Guyanese to ensure that this election is violent free, free of acrimony, and for all to respect the will of the electorate on November 28, 2011,” the ERC said.