Some of these violations were also mentioned in the 2008 report.
Other problems which the 2009 report highlights include government corruption and sexual and domestic violence against women and the abuse of minors. According to the report, the Government of Guyana generally respected the human rights of citizens and generally maintained effective control of the security forces.
While there were no reports of government or its agents committing arbitrary killings, the “security forces committed unlawful killings”. The report stated that the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) received four complaints of unlawful killings; half the number the PCA received the previous year. It was noted that murder charges were read to three on duty members of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Coast Guard — Sherwin Harte, Delon Gordon and Deon Greenidge — who were charged with the August 20, 2009 death of businessman Dweive Kant Ramdass. A board of enquiry set up by the military found that the three officers had confessed that they were responsible for the abduction and robbery of the businessman.
The report also mentioned the Lusignan and Bartica massacres, which occurred in 2008, stating that in both cases, charges made out against persons held responsible for the murders in both cases remained pending at the end of 2009.
Torture and other Cruel, Inhumane, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Under this heading the report stated that there were numerous allegations that prison officers torture inmates as well as allegations of police abuse of suspects or detainees. The torture of 14-year-old Twyon Thomas by two police officers – Sergeant Narine Lall and Constable Mohanram Dolai – during investigations of a murder was highlighted. The report stated that the Ministry of Home Affairs had confirmed the allegations of torture in this case.
It was noted that charges were laid against two police officers with abuse of two other suspects in the same case. The report stated that though Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee acknowledged that the fault rested with the police officers, neither the two detectives, nor their supervisors were obliged to resign.
According to the report, in 2009 the PCA received 78 complaints of unlawful arrest as well as some 46 complaints of unnecessary use of violence.
Prison and Detention Centre conditions
Citing capacity and resource constraints as a problem, the report stated that prison and jail conditions were poor and deteriorating, particularly in police holding cells. The report stated that there were some 1,989 prisoners in five facilities at the end of September last year, which catered for some 1,580. According to the State Department report, more than half of the prisoners were in the Camp Street prison which was designed to hold 600 inmates but instead housed 463 more. The report stated that overcrowding was in large part due to the backlogs of pretrial detainees, who, according to the report, constituted approximately 43% of the total prison population.
It was noted that that there were three reported cases of death in prisons due to neglect or official abuse, and unlike preceding years, the report stated that each prison had an assigned medic and doctors visited on assigned hours.
The report noted that newly-hired prison guards received limited human rights training from the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA). However, the government made no provision for reinforcement training beyond this initial stage.
The report stated that the although funding and plans were approved for the rehabilitation of the Brickdam lock-ups, the overall conditions at the facility remained worse than those at the other prisons with visitors describing the facility as “dark, malodorous, unhygienic and crowded”, and no medical attention was available to detainees. Though designed as a pretrial holding area, prisoners were kept at the facility for as long as two years, the report noted.
As regards the New Opportunity Corps juvenile facility, issues such as lax security and understaffing as well as the placement of juvenile runaways together with those who had committed crimes were problems which the report highlighted.
Unlike 2008, the report stated, there were no indications of the government declining to permit independent monitoring of prison conditions. However, there were no known monitoring visits during the year.
Role of the Police and Security apparatus
Poor training, poor equipment and acute budgetary constraints severely limited the effectiveness of the police last year and according to the report public confidence in and cooperation with the police remained low. The report stated that most cases involving charges laid against police officers were heard by lower magistrates’ courts, “where specially trained police officers served as the prosecutors”.
A shake-up in the administration of the Guyana Police Force following the death of Dweive Ramdass and torture allegations made against police ranks was also mentioned and according to the report, the reshuffle included the appointment of Assistant Police commissioner Steve Merai, who once headed the “black clothes” police squad, which was “responsible for several extra –judicial killings”, to the post of commander of ‘B’ Division.
Corruption and Transparency
The State Department report stated that the law provides for criminal penalties for official corruption. However, according to the report, the government did not implement the law effectively. It alluded to a World Bank report which indicated that government corruption was a serious problem. There was a widespread public perception of serious corruption in the government, the report stated, including in law enforcement and the judicial system. Low wage public servants were easy targets for bribery, it was noted.
According to the report, public officials are subject to financial disclosure laws and are required to submit information about personal assets to the Integrity Commission, but compliance was uneven and the commission had no resources for enforcement or investigations.
