Commissions of inquiry which have been set up in this country in the past have all been independent according to Presidential Advisor on Governance, Gail Teixeira, and she also declared there would be no probe into the infamous phantom squad if no information or evidence is provided.
“Who be independent, who would you suggest?” Teixeira asked when pressed by reporters on the issue of government agreeing to set up an independent commission of inquiry to probe the activities of the notorious phantom squad. She argued that all commissions here are set up in a way which demands independence and impartiality “by law”, stressing that previous commissions which were set up had complied with the laws and the Constitution. The phantom squad was back in the news last week after Britain, Canada and Sweden urged Guyana to acquiesce to an independent inquiry of killings and human rights abuses associated with the group.
Teixeira joined Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett at a press conference yesterday to report on their appearance before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland last week; an appearance which they reported went well. According to Teixeira, the three main issues which she assumed “the media would be interested in” were those which Guyana could not commit to providing a response at the time: corporal punishment, abolishing the death penalty and decriminalizing same sex relationships between consenting adults.
On the three issues, Minister Rodrigues-Birkett said the priorities identified by some developed countries at the forum such as gay rights and abolishing the death penalty “might not necessarily be in sync with the wider Guyanese population at this point of time”. She told reporters the country is faced with new challenges which can undermine progress if not properly addressed at the local and global level and cited climate change among the issues.
But faced with persistent questions on the phantom squad, Teixeira addressed it, saying the constitution clearly states how a commission is set up to inquire. She said that if persons feel the laws of Guyana and the Constitution are not pellucid and clear enough on what constitutes independence and impartiality then “it requires somebody to go to parliament with motions to amend those laws”. She said government has been probing the phantom squad matter and will wait to see whether the evidence provided could lead to further investigations.
“We cannot have an inquiry with no evidence or no information coming forward”, Teixeira stressed. She said people focus on the phantom squad for a number of reasons, arguing that the country has not recorded any extra-judicial killings from 2006 to date.
And in response to a question as to whether some persons within the administration utilised the services of the phantom squad to confront the issue of spiralling crime during a specific period of time, Teixeira railed, “Bring the proof!” She said that the administration was never involved.
According to her, the inquiry into former Minister of Home Affairs Ronald Gajraj was an independent one. “We now as a country seem to be splitting what is independent, if as a country we decide that a commission of inquiry would be made up of X persons of a certain level of integrity then it is expected that we abide by the results even if we don’t like the results that come out. We can’t be cherry picking on what is favourable to us”. She argued that when the result is favourable to whichever “opinion we are dealing with” then it is considered an independent inquiry. Teixeira said too that government stands by “the fact” that the Disciplined Forces Commission and the Gajraj Commission fulfilled the description of independent inquiries.
She contended that the persons who were involved in the massacres at Lusignan and Bartica have dropped off the agenda “at least from the media’s point of view”. She said people seem to have fallen off the track with what is important and continued, “Who killed the children at Lusignan, who was involved in that? Who stole the AK 47s?”
Speaking on the phantom squad and a probe into its activities, she said until such time that people come forward there could be no investigation. “One cannot go investigating people as seems to be the habit right now in some parts of the media, to be the investigator, the jury and the judge in relation to a number of cases, that is not how human rights are protected…” she stated. When questioned as to whether government is considering witness protection for persons seeking to share information with the police, she said it is something they have looked at. Teixeira noted that several countries within the region had also looked at the issue, but that the problems arise with people getting new identities.
Guyana received 112 recommendations during its appearance at the UN Council and according to Rodrigues-Birkett; this country accepted 57 of the recommendations and agreed to consider the remaining fifty-five in “due course”. She said the country did not reject any recommendations, noting that many of the recommendations are at various stages of implementation. She cited the establishment of a Human Rights Institution accredited to the UN; providing the security forces with adequate training in human rights issues and taking measures to reduce the number of cases of domestic violence among others.
Speaking on the three issues which Guyana deferred its response on, Rodrigues-Birkett said the local delegation was not in a position to make any commitment “since we require adequate consultations with various sections of the society”. She noted that the country did commit to hold various consultations with stakeholders to follow-up on the recommendations of the UPR process. Further, Guyana also committed to submitting the balance of the outstanding state party reports by the end of 2010.
On the issue of consultations on the specific UPR report at the UN, Rodrigues said consultation had been ongoing in the country prior to the submission of the report, citing Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) consultations in addition to crime and security discussions with stakeholders.
