Coil: Standing up for someone else’s human rights in Jubilee Guyana

by Vidyaratha Kissoon

“Who is de leader hey, is who organise dis… dey must have a leader..” the policeman asked of the protest on 9 December 2016 for justice for Courtney Crum-Ewing.

The policeman not know who was Courtney Crum-Ewing .

In October 2014 Kaieteur News revealed a recording in which the then Attorney General Anil Nandlall displayed his racism and sexism and his contempt for Guyanese generally. Kaieteur News said there was a threat to the publisher.

Courtney Crum-Ewing stood alone for many days , protesting that ‘Anil Must Go’. Some people joined him. According to Sherlina Nageer “The man was an inspiration. The hours he spent, in the sun, by himself, day after day – I knew how tough that could be. The curses, belittlement, and harassment from the passersby and the police; yes, it can wear down even the strongest soul. There is something powerful beyond measure in standing up for your rights though; a strength that comes from taking action, even if the necessary transformation seems far, far away. Every journey, as they say, begins with a single step and every fire with a single spark. Courtney was a cauldron of fire.”

On the night of 10 March, 2015 , some people killed Courtney Crum Ewing.

Thousands attended the funeral, and in 11 May 2015 – Anil was put out of his office but 202,364 Guyanese ensured that he and slap-and-strip-bheri should be called ‘Honourable’ and be entitled to the benefits of Parliamentary duty.

The man who was arrested for the murder has been freed of all charges.

The family is working to appeal that decision.

Less than two years later though, a policeman wants to know who was Courtney Crum-Ewing.

Standing up for your own rights/Standing up for someone else’s rights

10 December was International Human Rights Day. The theme for 2016 is “Stand for someone else’s rights”.

It might sound nice and selfless go look after somebody else , a charitable thing.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the framework which describes the human rights of every citizen – for all of us.

The State is responsible for protecting those rights. When Ministers of the government have fantasies of violating the rights of any citizen, and people believe that is okay, then human rights are not important to the Country.

Courtney Crum Ewing was standing up to the man who made a mockery of the responsibility of the state to deal with equality and equity.

They do not teach human rights in primary school. How can you teach human rights to children who you beating? The continued refusal of the Minister of Education to decisively transform schools into places where teaching does not require the use of violence is a mockery of human rights. The refusal of Minister Volda Lawrence to seek an independent resolution of the allegations of child sexual abuse against her colleague is a mockery of human rights.

Human Rights is often a bad name in Guyana. It is difficult to convince those who have power about Equality and Equity. Some people need to abuse power to survive and Guyana’s political system is designed to allow those abuses.

Gender based violence is embedded in our culture. Culture is used to excuse discrimination. Protesters for human rights in Guyana and protesters against all kinds of violence tend to get more derision and mockery than those they are protesting against. The rot is deep in Guyana.

Roads, racism, jobs

The man and I shared a table at my favourite roti shop. He was reading through the newspaper, reading some parts aloud. We talked about the crime rate, and the budget. He told me his bicycle had been stolen.

He said that some of his family voted for change.

“Why dem aint doing East Indian village road?”

He said the roads in his housing scheme were terrible. He thinks the roads might have been done before, but they were destroyed soon after. I asked him why he and others do not protest like how the Sophia people protested.

“You mean like get people together and so?”

I said yes, though I know from experience that is not easy. People don’t like to protest though many like to mock protesters. He kept insisting though that racial discrimination was happening.

I wanted to tell him to file a complaint with the Ethnic Relations Commission. The ERC though does not exist.

Racism in Guyana is alive and well, and the stories are numerous . There is deliberately, no real recourse to having accountable and transparent mechanisms to resolve any of the allegations of racism or any other kind of discrimination. It is easier to make allegations and slurs at all levels, and for politicians to throw the claims around, without there being any investigation or resolution.

The Constitution of Guyana speaks to the creation of the Ethnic Relations Commission. Prime Minister Nagamootto had airily dismissed the creation of the new ERC.. no commitment to any date and time.

The consultations have been held as to the members of the ERC. The ERC was made a joke after the previous chairman Juan Edghill revealed himself to be one of slap-and-strip-bheri’s people.

He is also called Honourable.

Article 212 (G) of the Constitution also states

“There are hereby established the following Commissions, the goals of which are to strengthen social justice and the rule of law –

(a) the Human Rights Commission;

(b) the Women and Gender Equality Commission;

(c) the Indigenous Commission;

(d) the Rights of the Child Commission

The Human Rights Commission was never established. The other Commissions were formed in 2009/2010. There are allegations against one of the Commissioners on the Rights of the Child Commission.

It is a mockery of human rights that those allegations have not been resolved.

The Women and Gender Equality Commission resolved two complaints I made about discrimination against women. The ability to respond to complaints and to deal with issues will depend on the resources available to the Commissions.

The mechanisms could work if people know about them, and if there is public trust in them. Roxanne Myers had written in an letter to the Editor of Stabroek News in September 2016 “..The national machinery and mechanisms are resourced annually to work for the entire population. Let us make good use of their expertise and grow Guyana into a progressive state where every citizen enjoys freedoms, and fulfil our responsibilities towards each other both in law and in practice.”

Fifty years after independence Guyana holds on to the laws which discriminate against LGBT citizens. Guyana continues to beat children in schools. Persons with disabilities might have powerful legislation but there is weakness in enforcing.

Budget 2017 has a passing reference to human rights. There was no mention in the budget speech of any specific commitment to enabling the Ethnic Relations Commission in 2017 . Maybe the Minister of Finance is hoping that the Prime Minister will bring it to life before the end of the year.

The ERC is the Constitutional mechanism to dealing with discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity, not the Ministry of Social Cohesion which had a lot of mention in the budget debates.

The budget debates though had no serious calls to build the institutional mechanisms which show th

On the morning after some people killed Courtney Crum Ewing, I was forced to confront my fears. I never stood with him because I was not able and I knew that Anil was not going anywhere despite all the objections and protests.

Amongst other things I was afraid about “how we match injustice for injustice and weigh which one is worse between the PPP and the PNC and how it is more and more difficult to match achievement for achievement or vision for vision. I friken how people depend on de PPP and PNC and their ‘leaders’ and elections for change.”

On 9 December 2016, the fears were there. I had seen the despair and anger in the eyes of another man who was victimised for standing for his own rights and the rights of others.

Nothing has changed since 10 March, 2015. Human rights seem to have no real relevance in building the nation.

In standing for Justice for the man the policeman did not know about , I am actually standing for myself.