President Irfaan Ali has rushed to the defence of his Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo, in wake of questions from the United Nations Human Rights Committee about the absence of an investigation into corruption allegations that were leveled against the Vice President.

The President is accusing “Opposition operatives” of furnishing the UN Human Rights body of “propaganda”.

In a statement to E-network’s NewsRoom, President Ali was quoted as saying UN Committee member who asked the questions pertaining to corruption “was obviously fed with the propaganda of the Opposition operatives”, adding that the questions followed a line of the Opposition in trying to paint the Government in a negative light.

Governance Minister Gail Teixeira who has been facing the questions by the UN Human Rights Committee as part of its period review of Guyana, indicated to the Committee that although the allegations against the Vice President were made in a Vice News report, there was never any complaint filed to Police by Vice News or anyone else pertaining to the corruption allegations. She also reminded that the Vice President had repeatedly denied the allegations.

The Opposition in a statement of its own following the first day of the UN Human Rights Committee review, reminded that it had filed a motion in the National Assembly calling for a full probe of the allegations against the Vice President, but that motion was blocked by the Speaker.

President Ali in his statement to NewsRoom said the reference to corruption was not based on any evidence or facts. He said he believes the member of the Committee who raised the issue found himself in a trap that the opposition has historically used against the PPP/C Government.

“What the opposition does is find conduits through which their messaging can infiltrate international institutions, in this case trying to use this individual position to derail the two days of positive review Guyana had at the committee itself. As a Government, we are committed to upholding the high value of every institution of the UN and will continue to actively participate”, President Ali stated.

The Members of the UN Human Rights Committee have repeatedly stated that their questions are based on credible information that is checked and verified.

The Committee also raised concerns about allegations of corruption within the Guyana Police Force and the local Judiciary, and queried about whether an investigation was ever done into allegations that were leveled against the former Permanent Secretary of the Home Affairs Ministry, who had her US visa revoked and was not allowed entry to the US while on a trip.

Related posts:

UN Human Rights Committee raises issue of failure to investigate allegations of corruption against VP Jagdeo and Police Force Opposition continues calls for VP Jagdeo to removed over corruption allegations Transparency Group calls for Commission of Inquiry into corruption allegations made against Jagdeo Opposition calls for independent international probe into corruption allegations featured in Vice News report