Guyana’s human rights record to be reviewed by UN

Georgetown : Guyana’s human rights record will be examined by the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) working group for the second time on Wednesday 28 January 2015 in a meeting that will be webcast live. Guyana is one of the 14 states to be reviewed by the UPR Working Group during its upcoming session taking place from 19 to 30 January. Guyana’s first UPR review took place on 11 May 2010. 



The documents on which the reviews are based are: 1) national report — information provided by the state under review; 2) information contained in the reports of independent human rights experts and groups, known as the special procedures, human rights treaty bodies, and other UN entities; and 3) information provided by other stakeholders including national human rights institutions, regional organizations and civil society groups. 



Among the issues raised are: addressing negative stereotypes against women; addressing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; decriminalising same-sex consensual relations; tackling violence against LGBT persons; addressing alleged police abuses, including unlawful killings, torture and ill-treatment; combatting all acts of violence against women and girls and supporting victims; abolishing the death penalty; prohibiting corporal punishment; access to clean water and sanitation; reducing maternal and infant mortality rates; access by women and girls to reproductive and HIV health services; reducing school dropout rates among girls; improving literacy rates; and Amerindian land rights and mining activities in indigenous traditional territories.