Women and Gender Equality Commission concerned at silence of Police Force top brass on rape allegations against Senior Officer

The Women & Gender Equality Commission today expressed its concern at the deafening silence of the executive management team of the Guyana Police Force after allegations of sexual assault have been leveled against a Senior Police Officer.

In a statement issued by Chairperson of the Commission, Indra Chandarpal, the Commission said it has taken note of the recent media reports in which a female police officer has accused a high-ranking male police officer of multiple sexual assaults and also noted the response from the Minister of Home Affairs Oneidge Walrond.

However, the Commission said the continued silence of the top brass of the Police Force after all these months is troubling.

“What is particularly unacceptable in this instance, is that serving members of the Guyana Police Force, who are mandated to serve and protect the public, are themselves subject to sexual abuse from within their own institution. The victims very often, are themselves subject to the same fear and other constraints that are often the more potent features of sexual exploitation in the workplace and serve to retard them from reporting to the relevant agencies,” Ms. Chandarpal said in the statement.

Ms. Chandarpal noted that over the past several years, the Commission has done extensive work to educate the public as a whole, but particularly people in the workplace with regard to the unlawfulness of sexual harassment and the gravity of sexual offences and has urged persons to report such matters recognizing that in many instances, victims are constrained by fear and embarrassment.

The Commission said while it is unable to confirm whether any appropriate actions were taken in response to the allegations of rape, it questioned whether the officer accused was relieved from duty as is customary in this type of case.

“Every Guyanese has the right to work and to do so in a safe environment. No one in this country should ever be made to choose between their safety, their dignity and their livelihood. Human Rights are meaningless if those who violate it are protected by the very institutions charged with upholding said rights. It is the responsibility of all of us but in particular those who bear a duty of care, including Ministers, Agency Heads and Law Enforcement to ensure the rights of all rights holders are protected and upheld,” the Commission noted.

It said the case represents a test of Guyana’s institutions on whether they are capable of holding the ‘powerful’ accountable. It is therefore an imperative that we must not fail in this instance.

In a brief statement last Friday, the Guyana Police Force announced that a special investigative team has been established to probe the report filed by the female police officer against Deputy Commissioner of Police, Fizal Karimbaksh.

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