The US State Department yesterday stood firmly behind its 2010 trafficking in persons (TIP) report on Guyana even as the government here has indicated its intention to take its protest against the report to the US Congress in an effort to “correct these misleading reports.”
Ambassador-at-Large Luis C de Baca of the Office to Monitor and Combat Traf-ficking in Persons speaking to reporters from Washington via a video link at the US Embassy yesterday said the information contained in the report was accurate and its sources were authentic.
Asked whether the US Government would consider withdrawing the report following strenuous objections from the Guyana Government the ambassador offered a terse, “No.”
He told reporters that following the objections from the government the State Department returned to the report and checked the contents and was satisfied with its accuracy though he declined to reveal the sources of the information.
Hours after last Monday’s release of the report, which said Guyana has a “significant” number of TIP cases and placed the country on the Tier 2 Watch List for the fourth consecutive year, the government strongly objected to its contents and Minister of Human Services & Social Security Priya Manickchand labelled it as “crap” and said it was “based on sheer ignorance and eye pass.” Several of her cabinet colleagues also expressed their outrage.
In a press statement issued on Monday through the Government Information Agency (GINA), the minister said that the government continues to insist “that the reports are misleading and based on fabrications designed to make the GTIP (Global Trafficking in Persons) appear competent” and that the government intends to approach the US administration and members of congress.
The minister revealed that she spoke to C de Baca via telephone on Monday and insisted that the conclusions and recommendations in the report are based on an earlier inaccuracy about large numbers of traffickers and trafficking victims existing in Guyana.
The minister refused the ambassador’s invitation for Guyana to work in a partnership with the US as she pointed out that the US State Department did not see it fit to have the “glaring inaccuracies and baseless accusations against Guyana” addressed.
‘Shortcomings’
C de Baca said that all countries have had successes and shortcomings in the area of trafficking in persons and the challenge is how to take the fight to another level.
Questioned about the source of the information on Guyana in the report, the ambassador said the information was provided by various organizations and persons but he was not at liberty to reveal their identities as some gave information in strict confidence. He reiterated that following Guyana’s objections they returned to their sources of information and “we stand by our report.” An assistant of the ambassador who was with him during the conference then interjected that the “primary source” of information in the report was in fact the Guyana Government.
The ambassador also said that they have staff members at the local embassy who also provide information and that they feel “pretty confident about the information we receive.” Meanwhile, the ambassador, who only took a limited number of questions because he said he had a meeting to attend, said they had “no baseline” numbers of persons trafficked.
“The Government of Guyana does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Despite these efforts, the government did not initiate any new prosecutions of trafficking offences during the reporting period and has yet to convict to punish any trafficking offenders under its five-year-old anti-human trafficking law,” the report had said. (Guyana recorded its first conviction on April 29, this year when Wesley Benn was sentenced to three years in prison after he was found guilty of trafficking two girls at One Mile Potaro Road, Bartica.)
In response to this statement Minister Manickchand last Monday had indicated that while Guyana has not prosecuted and/or convicted any large numbers of persons for trafficking no apology should be made for this fact. “Every citizen is guaranteed the right to be presumed innocent until found guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction. We hold this presumption and its constitutional guarantee very dear to us. It must be protected at all times.”
According to Manickchand, the sloth of the justice system is being addressed through a massive investment programme—the Justice Sector Reform Strategy—whose conclusion and implementation should see all matters, including trafficking cases, being dealt with expeditiously. Further, she said the government has a duty to nurture confidence in the justice system and to assist victims throughout the process so that they may make informed choices.
Yesterday C de Baca said that they are not insisting that the government have oversight over the court system and for them to ensure persons are convicted but rather they “want to see serious investigation into cases.”
He said it is his hope that the government “will take the report seriously and as a diagnostic tool.”
984 children
Of major concern to the government here was a statement in the report that indicated that some 984 children were removed from exploitive child labour from 2005 to 2009.
According to the US TIP report, “during the reporting period the US Department of Labour reported results of a project that withdrew 984 children from exploitive child labour in logging and saw-milling, fishing, hazardous farming, factory work, mining, and freight handling from 2005 to 2009.”
Asked to provide details on this project as the government said it knew nothing of it, the ambassador said the project was funded with US money and that the contractors worked with the Ministry of Education and it started under the “previous Minister of Labour.” The “Congress of America” and other “reputable international organizations” were involved in the project.
Later yesterday the US Embassy provided a website for the project which was titled ‘Combating Exploitive Child Labor Through Education in Guyana’ and conducted between September 30, 2005 and March 31, 2009.
According to information provided on the website, “The project withdrew 984 children and prevented 2,084 children from exploitive child labor in logging and saw-milling, fishing, hazardous farming, factory work, mining, and freight handling. The geographic regions targeted include Regions 2, 3, 4, 5, as well as Bartica in Region 7, Linden in Region 10, and Georgetown.”
Under “problem addressed” the report stated that in 2000, UNICEF estimated that 27% of children ages 5 to 14 years (or 62,125 children of a total child population of 230,100) were working in Guyana.
“An ILO-IPEC rapid assessment revealed the existence of the worst forms of child labor (WFCL) in Guyana, including children working in prostitution and the illicit drug trade, and those engaged in hazardous work in logging, fishing, manufacturing, farming and mining. However, children working in WFCL are scattered throughout the country in isolated pockets, and not easily found or removed from such conditions,” the report said.
It said that despite efforts by the government to promote enrollment and retention, dropout rates remain high at both the primary and secondary levels due to apathy towards school among some parents and students, and other reasons.
The objectives of the report were listed as: to reduce the incidence of exploitive child labour in Guyana, raise awareness of the prevalence and dangers of child labour at the national and grassroots levels, and of the importance of high quality education for the development of children; strengthen the national coordinating body to address child labour issues; and mobilize school-community partnerships to use education to reduce the incidence of child labour; among others.
It listed its implementing partners as the Adult Education Association; Sunshine Women and Youth Group; Children of Hope Outreach; Roadside Baptist Church Skills Training Centre; Young Women’s Christian Association; Seventh-day Adventist Church Community Development Group; Denise Institute of Catering; Cotton Field Secondary; Golden Grove Concerned Residents; Ambassadors of Christ Ministries; New Amsterdam Practical Instruction Centre; Linden Technical Institute; Zeelugt Primary School; Fort Ordinance Parent Teachers Association; St. Anthony’s Primary School; Essequibo Alliance; Arundel Congregational Church; West Berbice Women’s Group; Belladrum Primary; Alness Primary School; New Amsterdam Primary School; Enterprise Primary School; and Sophia Special School.
Noting the US TIP report, the Forest Products Association in a letter to Stabroek News on Monday said that it wished to “publicly state that its members operate in full compliance with the labour and other Government of Guyana legislation which expressly prevents child labour and any other form of child abuse or discrimination. The Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security; and the Guyana Forestry Commission conduct regular routine as well as impromptu visits to forest operations countrywide to verify compliance with these national legislative requirements; there have been absolutely no instances of non-compliance over the years 2005 to 2009.
“The FPA therefore again publicly emphasises that child labour is not utilized by members in the forestry sector of Guyana and condemns the use of misleading, offensive and unsubstantiated statements which will have negative impacts on current and emerging markets.”
The FPA called for the US report to be corrected.
