Human rights situation in Guyana especially with regard to the Indo-Guyanese population. [GUY0730]

Regarding the above please find attached the following:

US Department of State: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1987 (Washington, Department of State, 1988) pp. 504-9


Encyclopedia of the Third World (New York: Facts on File, 1987) pp. 812-28

Amnesty International Report 1988 (London: Amnesty International Publications, 1988) pp. 116-7.

British Parliamentary Human Rights Group and America's Watch: Interim Report of the Joint Mission to Investigate Political Freedom in Guyana (May 1985) pp. 11-15

Douglas Payne: Guyana's Forbes Burnham vs. the Catholic Standard" in Freedom at Issue (May-June 1984) pp. 10-12.

Regarding the more specific area of the treatment of the
Indo-Guyanese population, find attached:

Malcolm Cross: The East Indians of Guyana and Trinidad (London: Minority Rights Group, 1980)

"Report on Conference of 20 June 1985 (Ottawa: RSAC, June 1985)

"General Background: Guyana" (Ottawa: External Affairs, 1978)

Tony Jenkins: "Guyana: Electing a "Comrade President"" in Report on the Americas (January/March 1986)

Guyana Human Rights Association: Guyana Human Rights Report: July 1981-August 1982 (1982).

Political parties operate legally in Guyana, but elections in 1980 and 1985 were marked by allegations of fraud. For example, an observer team led by Lord Avebury, a Liberal member of the British House of Lords, reported that "massive and blatant fraud" took place during the December 1980 election, which was "not a free and fair test of public opinion". [Political Parties of the World (Harrow, UK: Longman Group UK,1984) p. 197 and US Department of State: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (Washington: DOS, 1981) p. 456.] After the December 1985 election there were allegations of fraud by opposition parties, civil groups, and members of the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches. [ US Department of State: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1985 (Washington: DOS, 1986) p. 565.]

In June 1980, the leader of the Working People's Alliance, Dr. Walter Rodney, was assasinated and several sources note that the government was suspected of involvement. [ Europa Year Book 1988 (London: Europa Publications Ltd, 1988) p. 1268; Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (1980) p. 456; and Political Parties of the World, p. 199.]

In 1981 and 1982, the human rights situation in the country deteriorated. Opposition leaders were reportedly arrested and tried, and the government placed restrictions on freedom of the press. [ Europa Year Book 1988, p. 1268. See also US Department of State: Country Reports for Human Rights Practices for 1981 (Washington: DOS, 1982) pp. 451-3.] A comparison of US Department of State reports on human rights conditions for the years 1982 and 1987 indicates that an improvement in the human rights situation has occurred in recent years. [ Country Profiles on Human Rights Practices for 1987, pp. 503-9 and US Department of State: Country Profiles on Human Rights Practices for 1982 (Washington: DOS, 1983) pp. 532-42.]