Freedom in the World 1998 - Guyana

1998 Scores

Status: Free
Freedom Rating: 2.0
Civil Liberties: 2
Political Rights: 2

Overview

The good offices of the leaders of Caricom, the Caribbean trade group, helped new Guyana President Janet Jagan to reach an accord with the political opposition in order to enact constitutional reform and to combat racial discrimination, in exchange for an end to growing political violence. Jagan, the widow of legendary independence leader Cheddi Jagan, had been elected in December 1997 in a vote bitterly-disputed as rigged. Before the June 1998 accord was reached, intervention of the army was necessary to help quell civil disturbances, even after a special Caricom commission found no evidence of election fraud.

Guyana is a member of the British Commonwealth. From its independence in 1966 until 1992, it was ruled by the autocratic, predominantly Afro-Guyanese, People's National Congress (PNC). The 1980 constitution provides for a strong president and a 65-seat National Assembly which is elected every five years. Twelve seats are occupied by elected local officials. The leader of the party which wins the plurality of parliamentary seats becomes president for a five-year term. The president appoints the prime minister and cabinet.

The first free and fair elections were held in 1992, and 80 percent of the eligible population voted. The PNC lost to the predominantly Indo-Guyanese People's Progressive Party (PPP)-Civic alliance. Having moderated his Marxism since the collapse of communism, PPP leader, Cheddi Jagan, became president.

The Indo-Guyanese outnumber Afro-Guyanese, 52 percent to 36 percent, and their leader, Jagan, won 52 percent of the vote; PNC leader Desmond Hoyte took 41 percent. A third candidate from the Working People's Alliance (WPA), the only mixed-race party in the country, won less than two percent. Fear and distrust of the Indo-Guyanese ruling party continues among Afro-Guyanese, despite the PPP's record of governing in a relatively evenhanded manner.

Cheddi Jagan's work was cut short by his death in March 1997. He was replaced by Samuel Hinds, a member of Civic, the PPP's coalition partner. Hinds called elections for December 15, 1997. Janet Jagan, a 77-year-old American-born journalist, beat the PNC's Hoyte by a 5-4 margin, approximately 60,000 votes. In a first for a member of the Caribbean community, the parliament was elected by proportional representation. In 1998, progress was made on constitutional reform as parliament began the process of setting up a broad-based committee to oversee changes in the 1980 Constitution.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

Citizens can change their government through direct, multi-party elections. Claims by opposition PNC concerning vote rigging and mismanagement in the 1997 elections were determined by a Caricom-selected investigative commission to be largely without merit, although numerous administrative shortcomings were detected. In 1997, an effort was made to reduce the possibility of the fraud and impersonation that marred previous contests, by requiring voters to have identification cards bearing their photographs when they went to the polls. Under the 1980 constitution, the president has wide powers and immunities. Because it lacks explicit guarantees, political rights and civil liberties rest more on government tolerance that on constitutional guarantees – a situation the PPP/Civic coalition appears ready to change by July 1999, when the constitutional reform process is due to end. The rights of free expression, freedom of religion, and freedom to organize political parties, civic organizations, and labor unions are generally respected.

The judicial system is independent; however, due process is undermined by the shortage of staff and funds. Prisons are overcrowded, and conditions are poor. Guyana is the only Caribbean country to have cut all ties to the British Privy Council, the court of last resort for other former colonies in the regions. Guyanese officials have complained that U.S. efforts to deport Guyanese from their northern neighbor has caused an upsurge in violent crimes including carjackings and shootouts with police.

The police force is prone to corruption, particularly due to penetration of the hemispheric drug trade. The Guyana Human Rights Association has charged the police with frequent recurrence to excessive force, sometimes causing death. The GHRA is autonomous, effective, and supported by independent civic and religious groups.

Several independent newspapers operate freely, including the Stabroek News and the Catholic Standard, a Church weekly. Only two radio stations operate; both are government owned. The government owns one television station. Fifteen privately-owned television stations freely criticize the government.

The largely-PNC opposition complains that the governing alliance discriminates on the basis of race, and gives preferential treatment for jobs and contracts to the East-Asian population to the detriment of the Afro-Guyanese. In November 1998, the government reinstated a custom's chief who had been suspended six years earlier on corruption charges. The comptroller's case had been a rallying point for government workers of African descent who charge that racism is rampant within the PPP/Civic coalition. Guyana's Amerindian Act gives indigenous groups title to their land but without subsoil rights. Native American groups complain that the government sells mining and logging concessions in Guyana's immense rain forest without regard for the land rights of native peoples. In November 1998, the government granted a 5.1 million acre mining concession on Indian lands.

Domestic violence against women is troubling, as is the government's reluctance to address the issue.

Labor unions are well-organized. In 1995, the government sought to dilute the right to strike among some public sector unions. Companies are not obligated to recognize unions in former state enterprises sold off by the government.