The Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) has expressed dissatisfaction that many serious issues with human rights implications remain unresolved, often for years.
At the quarterly meeting of the Executive Committee of the GHRA last Friday, the human rights body noted that the status of corporal punishment, recommendations of the Disciplined Forces Com-mission, the Broadcasting Bill, Casino Gambling, and implementation of the Constitutional Commissions all fall into this category.
“While the onus for completing the legislative agenda lies with the Government, this does not acquit or exonerate opposition parties from exposing or challenging long delays, the GHRA said in a press release on Wednesday.
According to the GHRA, civil society organizations need to recognize the importance of maintaining momentum around issues, and a key example of this is the failure to insist on a formal review of the operations to date of the Value Added Tax (VAT) system.
However, the GHRA noted, a welcome exception to this trend is the recent launching of a Consultation Paper published by the Ministry of Human Services & Social Security on the reform of sexual offences legislation, which reflects positively the mobilization of civic forces in recent years around the high prevalence and low conviction rates in sexual offences.
The Paper also reflects more effective cooperation between the Government and non-government sectors, the release added.
Meanwhile, the Executive Committee recorded its serious concern over recent allegations of torture by the police and members of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and “called for the implementation of all recommendations from the UN Committee Against Torture issued in November 2006 following consideration of Guyana’s report to that Committee.” The GHRA had submitted a Memorandum to the Committee Against Torture for inclusion in the UN Committee’s deliberations, the release said.
The GHRA welcomed the recent ratification by the Guyana Government of the UN Declaration on Indigenous Peoples, particularly since “it represents a shift from an earlier position in which Guyana was listed with a small number of opposing member States.” The human rights body, the release noted, had written to President Bharrat Jagdeo and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs calling for a review of Guyana’s position.
Meantime the Committee agreed to continue monitoring progress of the Draft Disabilities Act which the GHRA understands is now before Cabinet, the release said.
But the GHRA expressed particular disappointment at what it said was the poor research work earlier on this Bill despite the series of consultations and submissions made to the drafters.
And the Committee noted the failure of any member agency of the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) to react to the detailed allegations publicised by the National AIDS Committee (NAC) of what it said was the lack of transparency in the CCM. The GHRA, which is a member of the NAC, is particularly disturbed by the role played by some international members of the CCM in sustaining this unsatisfactory situation, the release stated.
Regarding the re-convened Camp Street Prison Visiting Committee, the GHRA took a decision at an earlier Executive Meeting that the human rights body through its representative should register its “concern over the conflict of interest arising over the membership of this Statutory Committee.” The GHRA said that it tried to resolve the matter informally without success and it would now raise the matter in a more formal manner.
The Executive Committee also reviewed the number of complaints received by the GHRA in relation to the escalation of restrictions imposed by the Public Service Ministry on persons in receipt of both external scholarships and domestic study courses. These include excessively long periods before recipients can travel out of the country, the release noted.
According to the GHRA, students graduating from universities in Cuba have had to wait two years before receiving their certificates from the Government of Guyana without explanation. Moreover, researchers at the University of Guyana (UG) have been denied opportunities to attend conferences and academic events outside of Guyana not only by excessive restrictions but last-minute requirements which ultimately frustrate the researcher from leaving. According to the GHRA, a number of complaints are accompanied by allegations of political and racial favouritism.
When students return from abroad, the GHRA noted, they are at the forefront of their discipline but the prospect of being isolated for five years from their peers, from which they would never recover professionally, is enough of a threat to motivate them to seek every opportunity to leave Guyana permanently. The GHRA asserted that the end result, therefore, is to encourage precisely the results the policy is intended to prevent, namely the exodus of qualified Guyanese.
The Executive Committee stated that it was also informed of the failure of medical centres, including the Georgetown Public Hospital, to routinely offer either the post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV victims of sexual violence or evaluate the risk of pregnancy and provide emergency contraception if appropriate and wanted.
It was also noted that the United Nations Development Programme in Guyana and the Office of the President were behind the launching of a ‘Human Rights Forum’ in Guyana’ as a civic/official ‘partnership’. A release on the creation of the forum stated that it will liaise closely with the GHRA and the Office of the President. While the Office of the President was consulted from the inception and co-signed invitations to the first workshop, the GHRA was never consulted, the human rights body charged.
The GHRA is to mount a public forum to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on December 10th. A decade ago, the release added, the GHRA co-ordinated a 50th Anniversary Committee which launched a series of events, including a Campaign by Men to Stop Violence Against Women and Girl Children.
