A delegation of international experts on the death penalty is in Guyana to address the use of capital punishment in the country and prospects for moving towards abolition.
A release from the EU Delegation here said that the team has been organised with the support of the European Union and the British High Commission in Guyana.
A de facto moratorium on the death penalty has been in place here since 1997.
According to the release, Saul Lehrfreund, Co-Executive Director of The Death Penalty Project (UK) will be joined by Randy Susskind, Deputy Director of Equal Justice Initiative (USA) and Surinamese parliamentarians Krishnakoemarie Mathoera and Patrick Ciciel Kensenhuis.
The release said that the international delegates will be supported by senior Guyanese lawyer. Nigel Hughes, who will provide expertise on the death penalty in Guyana.
Although Guyana has not carried out any executions since 1997, death sentences continue to be imposed and there are currently 17 people on death row, the release noted.
“Guyana’s continued retention of capital punishment marks it as an outlier not only within the region, as it is the only South American country that still has the death penalty, but also on the global stage, where a majority of the world’s nations have now abolished capital punishment”, the release said.
The death penalty was imposed on Guyana through British colonial rule. Since then the UK has rejected capital punishment and today is vocal in advocating for global abolition.
Meetings will be held with policymakers and key stakeholders including senior government ministers, members of parliament, the Bar Association of Guyana, criminal law practitioners and human rights advocates. A public lecture will also be held at 9 am today at the National Library in Georgetown to promote debate and increase understanding of key human rights issues relating to the use of the death penalty in Guyana.
The Death Penalty Project is an independent legal action charity housed and supported by London legal firm Simons Muirhead & Burton LLP. For more than 30 years, The Death Penalty Project has worked to promote and protect the human rights of those facing the death penalty.
The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) is a non-profit organization based in Alabama, USA. EJI is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.
