Without calling his name, the Women and Gender Equality Commission (WGEC) yesterday expressed its shock and dismay at the utterances made by Attorney General Anil Nandlall in a recently circulated recorded conversation and called for “all necessary sanctions to be taken” against him.
The call is seen as significant, as the WGEC is a constitutional commission entrusted with assuring the protection of women’s rights. It is also headed by a former PPP/C minister and longstanding party official, Indra Chandarpal.
Nandlall, in a conversation with Kaieteur News reporter Leonard Gildarie in October, repeatedly sought information on a female Kaieteur News reporter, whom he said, in very crude and obscene terms, his uncle wanted to have a sexual relationship with.
“The Women and Gender Equality Commission are shocked and dismayed by the utterances made recently by the person who currently holds the position of Attorney General of Guyana. His utterances clearly demonstrated a marked lack of respect for women,” the WGEC said in a brief statement.
It added that two issues are brought to the fore—the conduct of public officials and the culture of men as it relates to women in Guyana. “The official in this case is particularly worrisome because he has particular responsibility for upholding the Constitution of Guyana which includes the rights and obligations under the United Nations Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) as well as the mandates of this Commission under Article 86. We therefore endorse the call for all necessary sanctions to be taken,” it added.
Other groups in civil society have also expressed alarm at Nandlall’s statements and called for him to resign.
Notably, members of the legal fraternity called for Nandlall’s removal, while saying that the Donald Ramotar administration’s failure to do so would signal that it is above the law. However, the Ramotar administration has continued to defend Nandlall.
In the recording, Nandlall is heard saying that the use of deadly violence against the newspaper was acceptable. He is also heard intimating that President Ramotar participated in conversations with Bhena Lall in an ongoing criminal matter in return for less critical reporting by her co-defendant husband, Kaieteur News proprietor Glenn Lall. Ramotar has since denied the claims, while Glenn Lall has filed a criminal complaint against Nandlall.
For his part, Nandlall has said that his private conversation with Gildarie, a school friend, was manipulated and twisted to sound like a completely different dialogue.
