During Guyana’s appearance before the United Nations Human Rights Commission this morning for its periodic report, the issue of allegations of corruption against Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo and allegations of corruption in the Guyana Police Force was raised.

“The Committee is aware of public frustration, for example, the failure to investigate reports of corruption by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, the Committee also notes allegations of corruption in the Guyana Police Force and the Judiciary. Will the state party care to comment on these reports?”, UN Human Rights Committee Member, Laurence Helfer questioned.

In response, Minister of Governance Gail Teixeira, who joined the meeting virtually from Georgetown, said in the case of the allegations against the Vice President, those were never investigated because there was never any Police report filed against him in the matter by anyone.

“There was no follow up because there was no Police, there was no report made by Vice News or anybody else. And so the Police cannot investigate without some form of report or complaint. However, the Vice President has answered this issue several times publicly in the same media that carried the report”, Teixeira told the the UN Human Rights Committee. In relation to the local judiciary, she said there have been no reports about allegations of corruption against the judiciary.

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has always denied the allegations of corruption that were leveled against him in a Vice News special report that was done in 2022, and which sought to link him to alleged acts of corruption involving Chinese businessmen and the provision of Government contracts.

The UN Human Rights Committee also raised the issue of the State Asset Recovery Agency no longer being in existence, raising questions about what currently exists for the recovery of state assets. Minister Teixeira told the Committee that while the State Asset Recovery Agency being disbanded, the Offices of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit and the Special Organised Crime Unit, have all been strengthened to do their work, which would include the recovery of state assets.

The Guyana delegation also faced questions about the still to be reconstituted Human Rights Commission. Minister Teixeira said the Opposition Leader is still to submit his nominees for the Commission. It was noted that the Commission has been out of action for a number of years.

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