UN rights committee calls for comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation -concerned at continued ethnic divide and tensions
Following three days of examination of Guyana’s periodic report, the United Nations Human Rights Committee on the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR) has called for comprehensive antidiscrimination legislation here.
In its concluding observations following the March 18 to 20 hearings in Geneva, Switzerland, the Committee noted that the State Party had said that it was reviewing the Prevention of Discrimination Act of 1997. However the Committee was not satisfied with this.
“However, the Committee remains concerned about the absence of comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation that may extend beyond discrimination in employment, provide full and effective protection against all forms of discrimination prohibited under the Covenant, including direct, indirect, and multiple discrimination, and contain a list of prohibited grounds of discrimination in line with the Covenant. The Committee is also concerned about reports of (a) the continued ethnic divide and tensions in the State party; (b) hate speech and incitement to racial hostility by politicians and public officials as well as racial profiling by the police; (c) ill-treatment of and violence, including sexual violence on transgender individuals in police custody and prisons, that is worsened by underreporting and ineffective investigations into such human rights violations; (d) failure by the police to investigate all allegations of discrimination and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, particularly murders, and to bring perpetrators to justice”, the Committee stated.
The Committee said that the State party (Guyana) should pass comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation that explicitly addresses all parts of life and prohibits direct, indirect, and intersectional discrimination on all grounds including race, ethnicity, age, nationality, religion, migration status, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity. It must also ensure access to effective and appropriate remedies for victims of discrimination.
Guyana, whose delegation appeared virtually, was also urged to strengthen its efforts to end the existing divide and tensions between ethnic groups and discrimination against ethnic minority groups, including by creating opportunities for open dialogue between various ethnic groups, promoting inter-ethnic harmony and tolerance, and overcoming prejudices and negative stereotypes, including in schools and universities and via the media.
Also urged by the Committee was that the state take the necessary measures to prevent, condemn, and combat hate speech and incitement to racial hostility channeled at the groups most exposed to racial discrimination, including by public officials and politicians.
It also wants the state party to take all the measures necessary to effectively combat and eliminate racial profiling by law enforcement officers by providing mandatory training on cultural diversity and the inadmissibility of racial profiling to law enforcement personnel.
Combating violence and discrimination against persons based on their sexual orientation and gender identity was another area cited by the Committee. It said that the State party must ensure that offences motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation, or real or perceived gender identity are investigated promptly and establish specific investigation protocols for these cases. It must also ensure that those responsible are brought to justice and appropriately punished and that the victims receive full reparations.
Guyana had protested that the UN Committee had not incorporated its views in the concluding observations issued on March 28. It issued these on the same say that the Committee released its concluding observations.
In its rebuttal on the question of anti-discrimination, Guyana stated that the Constitution of Guyana is the supreme law and every person is entitled to the human rights enshrined.
“Any individual who alleges that their human rights have been violated
can go to the Constitutional court to seek redress. It also made specific reference to Art 149 anti- discrimination clause which was applicable to all areas of society and that discrimination was prohibited on the grounds stated in the constitution”, the state said.
It said that it was not aware of any allegations made during the reporting period in the categories cited by the Committee.
With regards to amendments to article 149 to include “sexual orientation/sexual identity”, the State party said this would be subject to review during the 2024 constitutional review process.
Guyana also stated that under the Racial Hostility Act it is an offence to willfully incite hate speech and incitement to racial hostility. A person convicted of an offence under the Racial Hostility Act is, among other penalties, disqualified for election as a member of the National Assembly, for membership of any local government authority, and several other offices. Further, Section 139E of the Representation of the People Act, Cap 1:03, calls on political parties to desist from taking any action which results or can result in racial or ethnic violence or hatred.
The state party was adamant that there was no ethnic divide here.
“The State party rejects that there is an existing ethnic `divide’ and ethnic tensions. The State party provided detailed information on equitable access to government programmes, goods and services, housing, water, skills training such as BIT (the Board of Industrial Training) and GOAL (the Guyana Online Academy of Learning), social protection benefits and services, etc., to ensure that `no one is left behind’”. The state party also pointed out that the creation of the constitutional rights commission, the Ethnic Relations Commission, was to address ethnic insecurities and to provide another layer of domestic remedy.
The State party also pointed out that its statutes prevent racial hostility and incitement especially by public officials and politicians. The state party also denied any racial profiling by police and that there were reports of violence and discrimination against LGBTQI.