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Guyana Human Rights Violations
Arbitrary detention of civilians, physical abuse of prisoners,
and summary executions became standard police behavior during
Linden Forbes Burnham's regime (1964-85). During the period, the
government routinely refused to conduct public inquiries into
killings, even into those in which it was not implicated. In 1973
a University of Guyana lecturer was severely wounded in what many
people believed to be an attempted assassination. In 1976 noted PPP
member Isahak Basir was severely wounded by police. In 1979
political activist Ohena Koama was shot and killed in Georgetown by
police. In October 1979, government minister Vincent Teekah was
murdered. In all these cases, no inquest was held. The most
infamous murder was the 1980 killing of internationally respected
historian and political activist Walter Rodney. The United States
Department of State believed the government was implicated in the
murder, which occurred when a small radio transmitter in Rodney's
possession exploded.
The Guyana Human Rights Association determined that from
January 1980 to June 1981, at least twenty-two people were killed
by police with no inquests ever held. The police stated that all
the victims either had attacked police officers or were killed
trying to escape.
Another common government practice was to deny opposition
groups permission to demonstrate peaceably. On September 17, 1981,
the Working People's Alliance organized a demonstration without
government permission. The crowd of fewer than 100 called for
higher wages, affirmed Guyana's territorial integrity, and
criticized South Africa's apartheid regime. Police intervened in
the protest, arrested political leaders Moses Bhagwan and Eusi
Kwayana, and beat those demonstrators who would not disperse.
Under the administration of Hugh Desmond Hoyte, who became
president in 1985, respect for human rights improved considerably.
Although a United States government report stated that in 1991
police abuse of prisoners and electoral manipulation continued, no
politically motivated or government-sanctioned extrajudicial
killings were reported. No summary execution took place, and there
were no reports of politically related disappearances.
Data as of January 1992
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