Trade unionist Lincoln Lewis has petitioned the United Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, accusing the government of promoting racism and discrimination against persons of African descent through a recent editorial published in the Guyana Chronicle newspaper.
Lewis has sought relief from the UN Committee, arguing that in the absence of a Human Rights Commission (HRC) and a functioning Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC), there is no effective local remedy for violation of the rights to citizens guaranteed under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. “Our client fears that there is a real risk of further publications of a similar nature and unless there is urgent relief granted pursuant to the Convention, persons of African descent are in real danger of prolonged and sustained racial discrimination by the Government of Guyana,”
