Guyana again urged to abolish death penalty

By Svetlana Marshall

Guyana has been commended for the gigantic steps taken since its first Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2010 but it is being urged to institute the requisite mechanisms that would result in the abolition of the death penalty.

This call was renewed as the country’s human rights record was placed under the microscope on Wednesday by the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review Working Group. Leading the Guyanese delegation was Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett who delivered a comprehensive report on the country’s progress before the recommendations were issued based on the assessment. Ireland and Italy were among the 54 countries that advocated for Guyana to establish a legislative framework that would see the complete abolishment of the death penalty in keeping with the recommendations that were given during the first review.

Ireland’s Representative Breda Lee recalled that Guyana had committed to the holding of public consultations on the death penalty, noting that the country should make good on its promise. “We urge Guyana to commence this process and to introduce a moratorium on the death penalty with a view to abolish it.”

Minister Rodrigues-Birkett in delivering the nation’s report recalled that Guyana had voluntarily committed to consult on 28 of the 55 recommendations tabled, of which 14 were based on the death penalty.

It was explained that subsequent to the holding of General and Regional Elections in November 2011 and the commencement of the 10th Parliament, a decision was made to present the recommendations to the National Assembly, where a motion was tabled by the Government to have the recommendations sent to the Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC).

Approval was granted by the House on August 9, 2012, and a nine member parliamentary committee was subsequently appointed. Though the work of the Committee commenced in November 2012, deliberations at that level have not concluded to date. “Although the Parliamentary Special Select Committee did not complete its mandate with regard to the recommendation on the abolition of the death penalty, I wish to report that the Criminal Law Offences Amendment Act of 2010 removed the mandatory death penalty for persons convicted of murders,” the Foreign Affairs Minister told the UN Human Rights Council’s UPR Working Group.

She further pointed out that the amended legislation has made provisions for life imprisonment and imprisonment with the possibility of patrol. “The death penalty was retained in limited cases such as murder of a Police Officer on duty, a judicial officer or treason,” Minister Rodrigues-Birkett further explained.

Other issues that were raised by the participating states related to discrimination against women; discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; alleged Police abuses, including unlawful killings, torture, and ill-treatment; combating all acts of violence against women and girls and supporting victims; prohibiting corporal punishment; access to clean water and sanitation; reducing maternal and infant mortality rates; access by women and girls to reproductive and HIV health services; reducing school dropout rates among girls; improving literacy rates; and Amerindian land rights and mining activities in indigenous traditional territories.

Corporal punishment

In response, Minister Rodrigues-Birkett disclosed that the recommendations on the abolition of corporal punishment, the decriminalisation of consensual same sex adults’ sexual relations, discrimination against Lesbians, Gays, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) and the age of criminality were also submitted to the PSSC.

“The Committee did not conclude its work at the time of reporting but had commenced by focusing firstly on the abolition of corporal punishment, public hearings were held and submissions were received from Government agencies, civil society and experts,” Minister Rodrigues-Birkett explained.

Based on the consultations done thus far, Minister Rodrigues-Birkett said it is evident that the abolition of corporal punishment in schools remains an issue on which sections of society are “staunchly and equally divided.”

She added, “There has been no general consensus in civil society or in the parliamentary committee on the way forward thus far.”

However, she urged the UN Human Rights Council’s UPR Working Group to be cognisant of the fact that the Guyanese Government had instituted the Juvenile Offenders Act of 2010 which abolished corporal punishment in juvenile correctional institutions. Additionally, the new Childcare Development and Services Act of 2011 prohibit corporal punishment in institutional residences. “We believe that these small yet significant steps have moved Guyana closer towards implementing these recommendations based on a democratic process,” the Minister further told the review group.

Guyana is among 14 states that are being reviewed by the UPR Working Group. The documents on which reviews are based on are the national report (information provided by the State under review), information contained in the reports of independent human rights experts and groups, known as the Special Procedures, human rights treaty bodies, and finally information provided by other stakeholders including national human rights institutions, regional organisations and civil society groups.