Guyana human rights record improves but problems remain - U.S. report finds
THE 1999 United States human rights report on Guyana says the country's record in this regard has improved although it continues to have serious problems in some areas. The latest State Department report, required by U.S. law to be compiled annually for Congress on countries which receive American aid, said "extra-judicial killings" by the Guyana Police Force reduced last year as was its abuse of suspects. "The authorities took some steps to investigate these abuses more effectively and brought charges against some individual policemen accused of killings," the report said. It charged that prison conditions are poor and lengthy pre-trial detention continues to be a problem for the country. "The inefficient judicial system results in long delays in trials," it stated. Other human rights problems cited in the report included violence against women and children, societal discrimination against women and indigenous Amerindians, and incidents of discrimination stemming from racial tensions between the two major ethnic groups in the country since 1998. The U.S. report criticised the Police Complaints Authority (PCA), doubting its independence since "most members are themselves members of the criminal justice system." The PCA in 1999 received 45 complaints and completed investigation of 31 of them. The reports were sent to the Police Commissioner for action. However, according to the State Department, the PCA has not submitted an annual report since 1995 and it claimed that even when police officers do face charges, "most of the cases are heard by lower magistrate courts where other specially trained police officers serve as the prosecutors." "As a result, human rights activists question officers' commitment to prosecuting their own colleagues." The document said the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) reported that policemen killed nine civilians during the year, compared with 11 in 1998 and 27 in 1997. "In seven cases, the police shot the victims while attempting to arrest them or while a crime was being committed," it found. The report commented on the establishment of the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) in 1997 in response to the growing number of complaints against the police. It said that for last year the OPR received 99 complaints that resulted in criminal and departmental charges brought against 40 police officers related to 78 of the complaints. Up to the end of last year, the OPR was still investigating 35 allegations of misconduct. On the issue of disappearances, the U.S. State Department said there were no reports of such cases that were politically motivated. However, it recalled that in March last year, police arrested and detained Franz Britton and "although (they) claimed to have released Britton, his relatives said that they had not seen him since his detention." The report added that although the Police Force's standing orders officially permit the use of firearms only when other means have been exhausted, "many justice authorities and human rights activists say that because of rising crime and pressure from urban businesses, which are often the targets of criminals, the Government has taken a lax attitude toward investigation of alleged police abuses." "In general, police abuses are committed with impunity," it added. The report noted too that in December 1997, citizens voted in "free, fair, and nonviolent national elections" to return the People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/Civic) to office. But it noted that social unrest and occasional violence marred the post-election period, with the People's National Congress (PNC), the main opposition party, alleging that the elections were fraudulent. "International observers considered that these charges were unfounded. Nonetheless, as part of a Caribbean Community (CARICOM) brokered truce between the two parties, the PPP/Civic alliance agreed to shorten its constitutionally mandated 5-year term to three years," the report pointed out. It added that the country's economy, which for years was "centrally planned and controlled, is based on a mix of private and state enterprises."
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