By Svetlana Marshall

The Government of Guyana has told the UN Human Rights Council that despite rapid growth and development, the country faces many challenges including Venezuela’s ongoing claims to two-thirds of its territory.

The statement did not sit well with Venezuela, with the Spanish-speaking country signaling its objection as Guyana underwent its Universal Periodic Review in Geneva on Tuesday.

In defending Guyana’s report to the Human Rights Council, Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett made it clear that threats to the country’s territorial sovereignty and integrity could have a significant impact on the rights of Guyanese.

“Whatever threatens our development, threatens the human rights of our citizens,” Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett told the UN Council. She said it was necessary to mention the spurious claims by Venezuela.

It was Venezuela’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Alexander Gabriel Yánez Deleuze, who objected to the report presented by Guyana’s Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond, in which she highlighted the threat faced by Guyana.

Describing the decision by Guyana to include claims to its territory in its report as “unfortunate,” the Venezuelan Ambassador accused the Guyanese Delegation of attempting to twist the intended nature and purpose of the Universal Periodic Review. He said the UPR should adhere strictly to the purposes for which it was established.

Further, dissatisfied by the response provided by Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the UN, the Venezuelan Ambassador stood on a point of order, citing Article 113 of the General Assembly Rules of Procedures.

He urged the Council to ask the delegation “to refrain from presenting in UPR territorial themes of a strictly bilateral scope”.  Yanez Deleuze said the Human Rights Council should be reminded that it does not have the power or mandate to address such issues, and it was therefore important for it to operate within its intended purpose.

Weighing in on the matter, the Human Rights Council Vice President said it was important to avoid “bilateralizing” what is essentially a multilateral process, and to stay within the legal framework of the Council, and the ongoing review.

But Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett said she was merely responding to Venezuela’s objection.

“I take note, and I was just responding to what was raised. And as the UPR process asks us to identify in our report, the threats, and we view this as a major one,” she told the Council.  

Venezuela has laid claim to more than two-thirds of Guyana’s territory on the basis that the 1899 Arbitral Award is null and void – a claim Guyana has rejected as false.

The controversy is currently before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as Venezuela continues with its claims of Guyana’s territory and various acts of aggression towards Guyana.

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