Rights group clamours for corporal punishment consultations

Aug 19, 2010 News

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Rights group, SASOD, is clamouring for movement on government’s promised consultation on corporal punishment before it reports to the Human Rights Council.
“We are letting the government know we are interested,” said Vidyaratha Kissoon, a child rights activist who facilitated a discussion on corporal punishment held last Tuesday at the Brickdam Presbytery in Georgetown.

The forum was arranged by SASOD, the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination.
The United Nations Human Rights Council provides for the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) every four years, examining the human rights record of each state.
At its May meeting in Geneva, Guyana accepted 57 recommendations, while the other 55 the government said would be responded to before the Council meets in New York.
“The government of Guyana is of the view that the UPR process is a very useful tool in determining the progress states have made with respect to human rights. We believe Guyana fared well in this review and we will continue to work with all stakeholders to ensure that we continue to improve,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett had said.
She said that consultations were required on the outstanding issues. However thus far there have been no consultations. In Geneva, Kissoon said, the government said there was ongoing dialogue on the Education Act regarding corporal punishment, but he was unaware of this.
“We are not sure who this dialogue is with or where it is,” Kissoon stated.
At the forum were representatives of Red Thread and Every Child Guyana, organisations which have been part of the movement with Help and Shelter in dealing with corporal punishment of children and corporal punishment generally.
Kissoon described corporal punishment as the whipping, beating, flogging, of children and adults as punishment “for whatever reason.”
He said corporal punishment sometimes has the approval of the state and is a legacy of British colonial laws, and referred to the Whipping and Flogging Act of 1922.
Further, he said Guyana’s laws have lots of references to beating people as a form of punishment.
Kissoon pointed out that the government tabled a bill to amend the Juvenile Offenders Act to remove the sentencing of juveniles by whipping and flogging.
He said that there has been no recent sentencing within the court system where the use of lashes as punishment has been ordered and that that is why there has been no outcry about this statute.
However, Kissoon said there are some people who bring forward the notion that “the rod of correction is still needed.”
He said that in the cases of the beating of children at home, one can use the Domestic Violence Act or the Protection of Children Act to seek legal recourse. However, he said the beating of children in school “is a whole different story.”
“It is perhaps the only form of state sanctioned violence against any human being,” Kissoon stated.
He pointed to a letter written by Michael Hackett, from Berbice, in response to the call by this year’s top graduating teacher that there should be a return of corporal punishment in schools.
Kissoon, quoting Hackett, said that the regulation regarding corporal punishment became law in 1943 and was reaffirmed in 1973; however, over the years it has been breached far more frequently than observed.
“Few students can remember whether or not the regulation was observed when they were punished. In fact, most teachers in the past, and perhaps all students, were totally unaware (perhaps willfully kept unaware) of the laws on school corporal punishment. Even today’s teachers seem to be thoroughly misinformed about those laws,” Kissoon quoted Hackett as saying.
Continuing to quote Hackett, Kissson said that following a spate of injuries resulting from the misapplication of corporal punishment, the Ministry of Education has had to strongly remind teachers of the necessity of obeying the laws of Guyana on administering corporal punishment.
This year, Kissoon noted, the government agreed to provide a response measures to prohibit all forms of corporal punishment against minors, and to prohibit corporal punishment especially in schools in accordance with Article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of Children.
Referring to the work Help and Shelter has done, Kissoon said success was seen following parenting sessions.
He said these focused on getting parents and adults to reflect on issues such as child development and understanding the definition of abuse. He said this work was done in a variety of communities and with a variety of people and progress was seen.
“This change is possible, and I think we as a society have to believe in that,” Kissoon said, and deal with an issue involving “people who have the least ability to assert their rights – children.”

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