Secretary of State Jon Kerry submitted the 2014 Human Rights Reports to the U.S. Congress on Thursday, in which he stated that “although the law [in Guyana] provides for criminal penalties for corruption by officials, the government did not implement the law effectively, and officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.”

The reporting period – 2013/2014 – covers the time the PPP held Executive office before being removed through general elections early in May, 2015.

The document said there were reports of government corruption during the year while there remained a widespread public perception of corruption involving officials at all levels, including the police and the judiciary.

The U.S noted its concern over the non – establishment of the Public Procurement Commission and the Integrity Commission to ensure governmental transparency and accountability.

The new APNU+AFC government cannot deliver on its commitment to set up the Public Procurement Commission unless the  PPP supports it the National Assembly.

The PPP is still to take up its parliamentary seats. 

The report noted that the Office of the Auditor General it tasked with scrutinizing the expenditure of public funds on behalf of parliament and conducts financial audits of all publicly funded entities but believes the office’s effectiveness remained limited.

This is directly linked to the former government’s inaction to addressing the discrepancies noted in its reports.

The report also raised concerned over the access to information.

The most serious human rights abuses involved suspects and detainees complaints of abuse by security forces, unlawful killings by police, and poor prison and jail conditions.

Other human rights problems included lengthy pretrial detention; excessive government influence over the content of the national television network and continued restrictions on radio licensing; allegations of government corruption, including among police officials; sexual and domestic violence against women; abuse of minors; and laws that discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons.

It noted that there were no independent and transparent procedures for handling allegations of abuses by security force members.

“Prosecutions when pursued were extremely lengthy, and convictions rare, leading to a widespread perception that security force members and government officials enjoyed impunity.”

Related posts:

Nandlall challenges US State Department Human Rights report over “false” information US State Department raps Guyana Police Force over corruption and unlawful killings in Human Rights report US Human rights report highlights Guyana Police abuses and concerns about Justice system US government raises concern about killings by Police and Prison conditions in human rights report