Death penalty… UN Human Rights Representative welcomes President’s call for national consensus

Jul 23, 2016 News

President David Granger (centre) is flanked by, from left to right: Ms. Khadija Musa, Resident Representative of the United Nations, Baron Marc Bossuyt, President Emeritus of the Constitutional Court and Member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Ms. Navi Pillay, Former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and Former Judge of the International Court of Justice; Mr. Ivan Simonovic, Assistant Secretary-General, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Rajiv Narayan, Senior Policy Adviser, Secretariat of the International Commission against the Death Penalty and Mr. Derek Lambe, Head of Political Press and Information Section, Delegation of the European Union in Guyana.

President David Granger, during a recording of his weekly television interview programme, “The Public Interest”, had reiterated his position that he does not intend to order the execution of anyone. Instead, he said, he will be guided by advice from the National Assembly and public consensus and even hinted at the possibility of a Referendum.
The President’s statement was welcomed by the leader of a delegation from the United Nations, Mr. Ivan Simonovic and the Assistant Secretary-General of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the United Nations Headquarters, who met with the President at the Ministry of the Presidency on Thursday.
He expressed satisfaction with the President’s stance on the death penalty in Guyana. Mr. Simonovic said that the President’s strong statements against assenting to capital punishment and seeking public consultation in the matter must be respected and appreciated.
The President stated yesterday morning, “I am advised by Cabinet; I am advised by my coalition partners, I am advised by the National Assembly and in the final analysis, by the people of Guyana. Guyana is an independent sovereign state and it is not for me to get ahead of what the people want.
“I do not envisage any circumstance under which I would be willing to assent to the death penalty even though it remains on the books. There has been a moratorium of over two decades, and what I would say is that if the Cabinet were to consider it, if the National Assembly were to consider it and even if there was a deadlock, we can go to a Referendum.
“Let the people say what they want to occur in this jurisdiction; in the state of Guyana. That is transparency; that is openness; that is consultation. What do the people want? So that is my approach,”
Mr. Simonovic said that he is especially appreciative of the President’s insistence on taking a decision only after the citizens of the country have been consulted, and their views made known.
“[The] President’s statement that we have heard recently that during his tenure there will not be any execution is very encouraging. I would think that also, it is very encouraging that the government is thinking in terms of establishing a committee that will be reflecting on the issue of death penalty.

President David Granger in discussion with Mr. Ivan Simonovic and Ms. Navi Pillay, during their visit to the Ministry of the Presidency.

“It is extremely good because experience in other countries have proven that the more you raise information, the more discussion about the death penalty, there is a strengthening of the trend of moving away from it so we welcome this development very much. We also think that this discussion is a good opportunity to make a formal decision,” he said.
Mr. Simonovic was accompanied to the meeting by Ms. Khadija Musa, Resident Representative of the United Nations; Baron Marc Bossuyt, President Emeritus of the Constitutional Court and Member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination; Ms. Navi Pillay, Former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and former Judge of the International Court of Justice; Mr. Rajiv Narayan, Senior Policy Adviser, Secretariat of the International Commission against the Death Penalty and Mr. Derek Lambe, Head of Political Press and Information Section, Delegation of the European Union in Guyana.

1 thoughts on “Death penalty… UN Human Rights Representative welcomes President’s call for national consensus”

Cotton_Candy July 23, 2016 at 3:18 pm

Mr. Granger you need to accept what the citizens are going to say and that is we want you to bring back the DEATH PENALTY so that these murderers will know that you mean business. The murder rate is too high for such a small country.