US Trafficking in Persons report unsupported by evidence, says Guyana government
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| Published on Friday, June 19, 2009 |
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GEORGETOWN, Guyana -- Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon said Cabinet is yet to be convinced by the recent report by the United States State Department on Trafficking in Persons (TIP) which again places Guyana at tier 2.
The report released on June 16 stated that the government has not yet punished any trafficking offenders under its 2005 anti trafficking law, but, according to Luncheon, the US report is lacking the evidence to prove an enormity of trafficking in persons exists in Guyana.
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| Guyana's Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon |
"It (TIP report) is unsupported by the kind of details of some sort that addresses magnitude. The fact that we fail to prosecute one or two persons doesn’t address a concern that exists,” Luncheon said.
The US report cited Guyana as a source for trafficking of men, women and children for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labour. President Bharrat Jagdeo has been complaining bitterly about the US reports on Guyana describing them as ‘the usual lectures’.
While in Trinidad and Tobago at the conclusion of the Fifth Summit of the Americas in March, the Head of State had said that about 100 documented cases of trafficking in persons are required for a country to be given the Tier 2 rank which was given to Guyana, a country which has not gained the required amount of documented cases to be graded in this manner.
Luncheon was also adamant about its inaccuracy while speaking on the issue at his post-Cabinet media briefing. “It’s wrong and I don’t think anyone has any questions about that,” Luncheon said
In an interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA) on the issue on Tuesday, Minister of Human Services and Social Security Priya Manickchand objected to the report and its ranking of Guyana noting that trafficking in Guyana is not to the level where it should attract attention of the US.
While responding to the claim in the report that prosecution and conviction of TIP offenders is not satisfactory, Manickchand reiterated that despite not having large numbers of convictions, prosecutions have been exercised on every person who can be tried under the Act. | | | | Reads : 961 | | | |
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