Even though it never replied to her letter in December last year, the government is “actively reviewing” recommendations by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHRC) Michelle Bachelet and assessing ways it could partner with UN entities to strengthen its human rights agenda, Foreign Affairs Minister Hugh Todd says.
“We received a letter from the UNHRC Commissioner outlining recommendations for a comprehensive human rights plan and we welcomed it. Human rights issues are of utmost importance to the government and people of Guyana and since the receipt of the letter, we have been in the process of addressing them [the recommendations],” Todd told Stabroek News yesterday.
The PPP/C government has not explained why there was no official reply to Bachelet’s letter and how that could be interpreted in international human rights circles. There has also been no public evidence of any attempt to implement the recommendations in Bachelet’s letter which was revealed in a July 15th Stabroek News column by Dr Bertrand Ramcharan, a former UN Under-Secretary-General. The letter later formed the basis of a news story in this newspaper.
This newspaper understands that a team has been set up here to look at Universal Periodic Review (UPR) report for this country and “map out” ways of bettering it before the next review period which comes up in 2022.
Bachelet had in December of last year written to Todd and had copied the letter to Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, urging that civil society and other stakeholders be consulted to help this country to collectively develop a comprehensive national human rights action plan.
The letter, sent on December 4, 2020, and published by the UNHRC, was also copied to this country’s UN Resident Coordinator, Mikiko Tanaka, and had an attached annex from which this country could use the recommendations as a guide. It followed Guyana’s UPR in January of last year; a process which involves a comprehensive review of the human rights records of all UN Member States, and Bachelet wrote as a follow up to a number of areas raised in the report.
In that process, the UNHRC said that it and other UN entities are willing to provide support and that this country should embrace similar support from international organisations.
“I look forward to discussing with you ways in which my Office may assist Guyana in relation to the areas identified in this letter and its annex,” Bachelet wrote.
A former two-term President of Chile, Bachelet also called for a national mechanism for comprehensive reporting and follow-up in relation to the recommendations.
Bachelet encouraged Guyana to establish a national mechanism for comprehensive reporting and follow-up in relation to recommendations received from all international and regional human rights mechanisms and to treaty obligations, while linking them to the Sustainable Development Goals. She “strongly” recommended that the OHCHR’s (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights) practical guide on the topic, be used.
“I would like to take this opportunity to follow up on a number of areas raised in the two reports that my Office had prepared for the review of Guyana – the Compilation of United Nations information and the Summary of Stakeholders’ submissions – which I consider in need of particular attention over the next four and a half years, until the next cycle of the UPR,” Bachelet stated in her missive.
“In identifying those areas, I have considered the statements and/or recommendations made by 76 delegations and the presentation made and responses provided by the delegation of Guyana. I have also considered the actions taken by the Government of Guyana to implement the 88 recommendations supported during the second cycle of the UPR. The aforementioned areas cover a range of issues, which appear in the annex to this letter,” she added.
Todd said that his office, with the assistance of the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance is actively addressing the issue.
“I encourage Guyana to develop a comprehensive national human rights action plan in order to achieve concrete results in the areas highlighted in the annex to this letter and to facilitate preparations for the fourth cycle of the UPR,” the letter had urged.
The UNHRC Commissioner also pointed out that she was sharing advice to the process with all member states with a view to assisting them with the implementation of the recommendations, following the review.
She noted that an important measure that can positively contribute to follow-up action is voluntary mid-term reporting. “Therefore, I strongly encourage all Member States to submit a voluntary mid-term report two years after the adoption of the UPR outcome report, in this regard, I encourage Guyana to consider submitting a mid-term report on follow-up to the third cycle of the review, by the end of 2022.”
Bachelet welcomed Guyana’s commitment to strengthen the transparency of the electoral process. She said that this was highlighted by the support expressed to relevant UPR recommendations and reiterated by the delegation during the adoption session of the outcome report on the review.
The Commissioner said that she was “also encouraged by the decision of Guyana to undertake a participatory process of constitutional reforms to ensure inclusive governance and respect for human rights, social harmony and reduced inequality for all.”
Neither the electoral reform process nor the constitutional reform process has since moved ahead.
