UN’s human rights review of Guyana… US concerned about ‘misapplication’ of Constitution and certain court rulings

Jan 30, 2020 News

The United States has expressed concerns to the United Nations Human Rights Council for Guyana’s handling of a number of court rulings that stemmed from the December 21st, 2018 no-confidence motion.

US representative, Sean Mariano Garcia during his presentation in Geneva yesterday.

Yesterday, Sean Mariano Garcia, on behalf of the United States of America, told the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group in Geneva, Switzerland, that the “United States is concerned about recent actions by Guyana that may undermine democratic principles including apparent mis-application of the Guyanese constitution and certain court rulings…”
The US would be referring the December 21st no-confidence motion which catapulted Guyana into uncharted waters after the Speaker of the House, Dr. Barton Scotland, initially ruled that the vote was carried.
It was challenged by the Coalition Government, which according to law, should have called elections within three months, and triggered a number of court challenges all the way to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
It was agreed by the CCJ that the vote was carried and that dual citizens cannot hold parliamentary posts in Guyana, as it conflicts with the Constitution.
The country, since December 2018, has been riveted on the happenings, with general and regional elections due on March 2nd.
According to Garcia in his presentation yesterday, the US would also like to see the implementation of reforms to strengthen electoral procedures and the Guyana Elections Commission, and ensure that that there is free, fair, transparent and credible elections on March 2nd.
The US also wants to strengthen enforcement of all labour laws with the imposition of penalties to help deter violations.
The meeting was webcast live, and the US presentation can be seen here: http://webtv.un.org/watch/guyana-review-35th-session-of-universal-periodic-review/6127682840001/#player
Guyana was one of the 14 states to be reviewed by the UPR Working Group between 20th to 31st January.
Guyana’s first and second UPR reviews took place in May 2010 and January 2015, respectively.
The reviews examine information contained in the reports of independent human rights experts and groups, known as the Special Procedures, human rights treaty bodies, and other UN entities.
The UN group would have also examined information provided by other stakeholders including national human rights institutions, regional organizations and civil society groups.
The UPR is described as a unique process, which involves a periodic review of the human rights records of all 193 UN member states.
“Since its first meeting was held in April 2008, all 193 UN member states have been reviewed twice within the first and second UPR cycles. During the third UPR cycle, states are again expected to spell out steps they have taken to implement recommendations posed during their previous reviews which they committed to follow-up on, as well as to highlight recent human rights developments in the country,” the UN forum had disclosed.
The delegation of Guyana was headed by Ambassador John R. Deep Ford, Permanent Representative of Guyana to the UN Office at Geneva.
The UPR Working Group is scheduled to adopt the recommendations made to Guyana tomorrow at 17:00h.