Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, is not happy with the line of questioning that the Government has been facing in its appearance before the United Nations Human Rights Committee. 

Speaking during his weekly programme “Issues in the News”, Mr. Nandlall said some of the questions are bordering on propaganda, while others seem to be misplaced.

Governance Minister Gail Teixeira over the last few days has been grilled on a number of alleged human rights abuses, and government and state excesses. But Mr. Nandlall said those asking the questions do not understand how the country’s democracy works.

“The people who are asking these questions, they do not understand how our Constitutional structure works. They do not understand how governments in a constitutional democracy like our works, so they are asking the government about investigating reports, government does not investigate I keep saying that over and over,” Nandlall said.

Mr. Nandlall said the questions being asked about Government investigating acts of corruption are somewhat misplaced. He said agencies such as the Guyana Police Force (GPF), the Auditor General’s Office, and the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) are assigned agencies with investigative powers.

“All these agencies, they are not government, they are state agencies—these are agencies with investigate powers, central government does not have investigative powers, they people who are asking these questions, they are unacquainted with and not educated about our governance structure and constitution,” Nandlall stated.

Mr. Nandlall took aim with the line of questioning from American Human Rights Advocate, Laurence Helfer, saying that he appears to being taking talking points from the Opposition.

“This American guy who is asking these questions, obviously must have been influenced by what the APNU+AFC did in Washington. Recall that they went there to have this big conference and confabulation about racism and corruption, this guy seems to be borrowing from that propaganda,” Nandlall stated.

Mr. Nandlall said the focus seem to be directly at the Government and not agencies tasks with carrying out certain responsibilities. 

The Officials on the UN Human Rights Committee has stated that all of their information was checked and rechecked and didn’t come from any one source.

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