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Former Member

U.S. wants Guyana to jail Trafficking in Persons offenders

June 19, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment

In wake of revelations late last year that the publisher of Kaieteur News, Glenn Lall had been allegedly fingered in alien smuggling (backtracking), the United States on Tuesday urged Guyana to hold trafficking in persons offenders accountable by vigorously and appropriately investigate and prosecute them. An explosive WikiLeaks cable had named the Kaieteur News publisher as a person with a “sketchy past” involved in “alien smuggling” and “links to the underworld”. The cable stated that: “he translated a shoe trading business and rumoured involvement with alien smuggling into a muckraking independent newspaper. He has also been accused of having his

Glen Lall

finger on the pulse of Guyana’s underworld, which serves his media enterprise well,” the cable said. The then political officer in the U.S. Embassy in Georgetown, Benjamin Canavan had spoken with Lall, whose correct name is Mohan Lall, prior to the writing of the cable.
Meanwhile, Guyana remains at Tier Two in the U.S. ranking for countries in the fight against TIP in its 2012 report released on Tuesday. A Tier Two ranking means a country’s government does not fully comply with the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s minimum standards, but is making significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with those standards. In the report released by Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, the U.S. said Guyana is a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labour. Guyanese nationals have been subjected to human trafficking in other countries in the Caribbean region. Cases of human trafficking reported in the media generally involved women and girls in forced prostitution.
According to the report, the country’s experts expressed concern that exploitative child labour practices occur within the mining, agriculture, and forestry sectors. “The limited government control of Guyana’s vast interior regions, combined with profits from gold mining and the prostitution that accompanies the industry, provides conditions conducive for trafficking.”
The report cited that people in domestic service in Guyana are vulnerable to human trafficking, and instances of the common Guyanese practice of poor, rural families sending children to live with higher-income family members or acquaintances in more populated areas create conditions conducive to domestic servitude.
“Guyanese from rural, economically depressed areas are particularly vulnerable to trafficking in mining areas and urban centres. There is additional concern that young Brazilian women in prostitution are vulnerable to trafficking as well,” the report added.
It stated that the government of Guyana does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released the TIP report

“The government demonstrated increased efforts to identify and assist trafficking victims. There were no prosecutions of trafficking offenders and there was no reported progress on prosecutions initiated in previous reporting periods, highlighting serious concerns about a lack of accountability for trafficking offenders in Guyana. The absence of formal standard operating procedures to guide officials in victim identification and protection, disincentives for reporting and working on trafficking cases, as well as lack of action to address perceived official complicity, were also obstacles to progress,” the report noted.

Recommendations
The U.S. recommended that Guyana: boost efforts to hold trafficking offenders accountable, including police, customs, and immigration officers complicit in trafficking; in partnership with NGOs, develop standard operating procedures to guide and encourage front line officials, including police, health, immigration, labour, mining, and forestry personnel in the identification and protection of persons subjected to forced labour and forced prostitution, ensuring that victims are not punished for crimes committed as a result of being in a trafficking situation; foster a climate of open dialogue on trafficking and encouraging people to come forward; and consider developing a working-level task force to complement the policy-level task force that would be able to coordinate the day-to-day efforts of law enforcement, NGOs, prosecutors, as well as labour, health, mining, and forestry officials to address obstacles, plan strategy, and work together on specific cases.

Prosecution
The report mentioned that government made no discernible progress in holding human trafficking offenders in Guyana accountable during the reporting period. The Combating Trafficking of Persons Act of 2005 prohibits all forms of trafficking and prescribes sufficiently stringent penalties, ranging from three years’ to life imprisonment. The penalties are commensurate with penalties prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. The government reported 13 trafficking reports during the year, but initiated only two new trafficking investigations. Authorities reported no new prosecutions or convictions. Of the two sex trafficking prosecutions initiated in previous years, one remained pending and one was dismissed.
There were many challenges to achieving successful prosecutions in Guyana. In almost all cases, the government treated trafficking as a summary offense in the lower courts, where cases are often dismissed, indicating a lack of severity assigned to the crime of trafficking.
“Guyana’s legal system suffered from a severe case backlog in all areas that limits the efficiency and effectiveness of the system; repeated delays in nearly all criminal prosecutions increased the likelihood that victims would become discouraged and cease cooperation as witnesses in trafficking prosecutions.” The report noted too that perceived corruption and low public confidence in the Guyana Police Force also were problems.
“The government’s public insistence that human trafficking is not a significant problem in the country created a potential disincentive for police and court officials to address trafficking cases. There was evidence that people could be penalised for reporting suspected human trafficking crimes to the police. The press reported that police arrested a mother immediately after she reported concern that her daughter was in forced prostitution,” it added.

Protection
In the area of protection, the report noted that government made efforts to protect victims of trafficking during the reporting period. Specifically, in a positive step, the government was able to document that it identified and assisted an increased number of sex trafficking victims during the reporting period. Officials reported identifying 13 sex trafficking victims and assisting six of these during the reporting period, compared with three sex trafficking victims identified and assisted during the previous reporting period.
The government again did not identify any victims of forced labour for this period, raising concerns that the government did not employ systematic procedures to guide front-line responders, such as police, mining, forestry, labour, and health officials, in identifying victims of human trafficking, the report contended.
Additionally, it cited that trafficking victims in Guyana faced disincentives to seek help from authorities due to fear of retribution from trafficking offenders and fear of arrest. “The government estimated that it spent the equivalent of approximately US$7500 toward trafficking victim assistance during the reporting period.”
In accordance with Guyana’s anti-trafficking law, there are legal alternatives to the removal of foreign victims to their home countries where they may face hardship or retribution. Highlighting the need for standard operating procedures to guide authorities in the identification and handling of potential trafficking cases, there was evidence that some potential trafficking victims were penalised for crimes committed as a result of being in a trafficking situation.
Following anti-trafficking raids of brothels in 2011, some foreign women in prostitution were jailed and deported immediately for immigration violations, without the involvement of an NGO or concerted efforts to identify possible trafficking victims. Local observers have noted that other potential child victims may have been sent to the juvenile detention centre.

Prevention
The government made limited progress in preventing human trafficking during the reporting period. It continued to focus its public comments on the scope of Guyana’s trafficking problem, maintaining that it is limited, rather than fostering an open dialogue to build public awareness of the potential for trafficking and how to identify, report, and prevent cases. Minimising the existence of human trafficking hindered the progress of trafficking awareness campaigns, which were largely donor driven and funded.

Beacon Of Truth Or Purveyor Of Sleaze? Is there any remote connection with Glen Lal and the US State Department 2012 TIP Report? Bobby Ramroop and the Guyana Times has to be real desperate to insinuate such linkage. On the other hand, one does not need a flash light to see the shameless and incestuous fornication between the this Administration and Ramroop's Empire.

Replies sorted oldest to newest

seignetSenior Member

Specifically, which administration-Obama or the PPP.

6/20/128:07 AM

Former Member

Backtracking is very different from the Chinese trafficking young Amerindian girls and the new trafficking of Brazilian women into Guyana. I have family members who went to the US by this route. One is a millionaire accountant now. Other family did quite okay. This was back in the early 1980s.

6/20/128:26 AM

Vish MSenior Member

If there is any merit to the Guyana Times article, except for mud slinging, then why is Glen Lall coming to the US so regularily?

Generally, the US revokes visa for all suspecting foreign lawbreakers.

6/20/1210:42 AM

Former Member

Originally Posted by Vish M:

If there is any merit to the Guyana Times article, except for mud slinging, then why is Glen Lall coming to the US so regularily?

Generally, the US revokes visa for all suspecting foreign lawbreakers.

It is slant; pure un-distilled and virulent slant. Has the times written any article of those bringing in the Chinese or the Brazilians or the myriad of ***** houses abusing native girls?

This is a member of the PPP crime family trying to defray the revelations of his leeching of state assets as is source to him by the PPP.

I am amazed at the lack of any penchant for real reporting in our dailies to seek into the connections of the NBS, NIS NICIL, NCN, GINA, BERBICE RIVER BRIDGE Company, the oil leases etc and reveal the web of interconnections of the same cabal of ravenous leeches on our state's assets.

This corruption is expanding exponentially and will touch all of us as we participate in these companies being hatched from corrupt practices in our government.

6/20/1210:51 AM

Vish MSenior Member

The positiveness of the article is that Glen Lall's photo has a higher precedence that Hillary's..

This is the level of Journalism in Guyana?

6/20/1210:58 AM

Former Member

The subject of the article is Glenn Lall. Hillary is incidental to the subject.

6/20/123:35 PM

Former Member

the ppp crime family is real desperate,the oppisition is wasting time with these bunch of thief,its time the guyanese tax payers make these people accountable for all the misdeeds that they commit.bar--rat and his sindicate buddys put every thing in place to rob the guyanese tax payers blind.when will the indian people in guyana say to hell with this shit and help jail these people,

6/20/124:18 PM

Former Member

could someone post the traffic on what was said abourt Mr. Lall.

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C O N F I D E N T I A L GEORGETOWN 000454

SIPDIS

WHA/CAR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/11/2019
TAGS: PREL GY
SUBJECT: RULE OF LAW IN GUYANA: MORE LIKE A GUIDELINE

REF: A. A) GEORGETOWN 450
¶B. B) GEORGETOWN 418

Classified By: Charge d’Affaires Karen L. Williams for reasons 1.4(b) a
nd (d)

¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Recent actions by the Government of Guyana, illustrated by the case of detained missionaries (REFTEL A) and the pursuit of suspects in the Ministry of Health fire (REFTEL B), paint a picture of a state where opposition is marginalized and rule of law is selectively applied.

Diplomatic and local observers comment that the rhetoric and tightening of political power is at its highest since the 2006 presidential and parliamentary elections. END SUMMARY.

¶2. (C) The recent case of U.S. missionaries detained in preparation for immediate deportation despite court orders to the contrary, brought to stark light the flimsiness of rule of law in Guyana. Both Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee and Commissioner of Police Henry Greene (who are known associates and accomplices of drug traffickers and human smugglers) ignored court orders to release the missionaries while their deportation case was pending before the court. President Bharrat Jagdeo had the missionaries released not as the court ordered it, but only as a 30-day extension of their deportation. Jagdeo and key advisors, such as Roger Persaud, have publicly defended the detention and deportation orders, and only gave apologies for the manner in which the missionaries were “rounded up.”

¶3. (C) The pursuit, harrassment, and alleged beating of suspects in the Ministry of Health fire further illustrate the selective application of laws — there has been no investigation of the allegations of abuse by police or
defense forces. Likewise, although a great deal of information has emerged alleging government involvement with confessed narco-trafficker Roger Khan (REF B) and his “death squad”, the government refuses to open its own investigation, stating instead that it is waiting for the U.S. to provide
its evidence in the case, even though nearly all of the sources for information are here in Guyana.

¶4. (C) Two prominent journalists, who, while critics of the government, are not active opposition members, spoke with the Charge and PolOff at length this week about the limited rule of law and respect for democratic and transparent systems. They detailed the sidelining of non-Indo-Guyanese higher ranking police officials, the shifting of judiciary to the benefit of the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and thought that the case of the missionaries was perhaps an attempt to expel a group that had been cooperating and working well with the opposition in some humanitarian
endeavors. The two journalists went into detail on Minister Rohee and Commissioner Greene’s criminal ties as well as those of the chairman of the Private Sector Commission, Gerry Gouveia. (NOTE: All three men have either had their U.S. visas revoked or would not be eligible because of these ties.) The bottom line from the journalists — the government has consolidated its power to the point that internal opposition is effectively hamstrung. The government allows them to be vocal but has cut off all democratic avenues for recourse.

¶5. (C) The journalists’ observations are echoed by long-time observers in the diplomatic and donor community who have seen democracy and governance programs (aside from automation and some trainings) stagnate or meet with blunt disapproval. An upcoming Canadian program for media was bluntly rejected by the government and a planned joint U.S./GoG symposium with the civil sector on national security strategy never got out of the starting blocks as the Chief of Staff of the President stalled its planning until the point was moot.

¶6. COMMENT: The consensus among international donor community observers is that democracy and rule of law is at its lowest ebb since the 2006 elections. The 2011 elections, although nearly two years away, already seem to loom large on the horizon. Serious policy reform projects, such as in the
security sector, have fallen to the way side. Token gestures of cooperation on democracy and governance reform are made – such as eagerness to sign an agreement on some programs with USAID — but are used as a way to push for a major public signing ceremony for the agreement — well out of proportion with the agreement itself. President Jagdeo, while saying
that he is just allowing his Ministers to do their jobs, is personally involved in every detail of government. His attitude toward the donor community has been in stark contrast to many of the officials he directs — he has been
jovial, upbeat and visible at even some of the more minor donor community events. The overall picture is of a government tightening its control and misusing the rule of law, while saying the “right” words and smiling nicely for
the cameras. END COMMENT.

Williams

6/20/126:18 PM

Former Member

I am just reading these and they are rather insightful.

on Jagdeo Appointees.

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SIPDIS

SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/15/2016
TAGS: PGOV KDEM GY
SUBJECT: PARTY POLITICS, PERSONAL LOYALTY KEY IN CABINET
RESHUFFLE

Classified By: AMBASSADOR DAVID M. ROBINSON FOR REASON 1.4(d)

¶1. (C) SUMMARY: President Jagdeo’s new cabinet, sworn in September 9, showcases a cadre of up-and-coming, Moscow-educated party leaders with close personal ties to the President. While this cabinet also confirms the ascendancy of the more venal Janet Jagan faction of the People’s
Progressive Party (PPP) over the late Cheddi Jagan’s idealist following, many of the appointees owe their loyalty directly to Jagdeo, rather than to Mrs. Jagan. Party outsiders and technocrats are few, and while Jagdeo did trim some deadwood, several aging and incompetent ministers linger.

————————————

PARTY FAITHFUL REWARDED AND RECYCLED
————————————

¶2. (C) Seven ministers retained their posts:

–Prime Minister Samuel Hinds is the former head of the now-defunct CIVIC movement, which merged with the PPP in 1992 as Hinds first became Prime Minister on Cheddi Jagan’s ticket. He is a weak figurehead, tapped primarily for his Afro-Guyanese ethnicity and his docility. According to
Hinds’ family and staff, he is looking to get out and would like to be High Commissioner to Canada.

–Dr. Roger Luncheon, a pivotal member of the PPP’s politburo-style Executive Committee, will stay on as Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Secretary to the Cabinet, and Secretary to the Defense Board. He serves as Jagdeo’s

SIPDIS gatekeeper, strategist, and primary military/security
coordinator.

–Dr. Rudy Insanally was reappointed Minister of Foreign Affairs as one of four technocrat ministers. Despite his advanced age and increasing ill health, he will also continue to juggle his two other jobs as Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN)-a position he has held since 1985-and non-voting member of the National Assembly. Insanally has a long diplomatic career behind him and a good reputation in UN circles.

–Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, an accomplished U.S.-educated biochemist, will continue as Minister of Health. Ramsammy told EmbOffs that he would also take over the duties of former Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Reepu Persaud, considerably enlarging his profile. Ramsammy reputedly
raised a significant share of the PPP’s 2006 campaign war chest. His wife and children live in the U.S. and Ramsammy himself is a U.S. citizen.

–Dr. Jennifer Westford will retain her post as Minister of Public Service. Webster studied medicine in Cuba, and holds degrees in International Relations from the University of Guyana and the University of Canterbury.

–Doodnauth Singh will stay on as Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, defying rumors that he was on the way out due to old age and loss of favor. National Assembly Speaker Ralph Ramkarran and Chief Justice Carl Singh told EmbOffs that Doodnauth was retained because there was nobody
else to appoint. He is a successful criminal attorney and the former Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). Doodnauth is a technocrat and does not enjoy a close relationship with Jagdeo or the PPP.

–Carolyn Rodrigues was renewed as Minister of Amerindian Affairs. She has a reputation for efficiency, and was instrumental in pushing through the 2006 reforms to the Amerindian Act over the objections of several Amerindian groups. The PPP campaigned hard for the growing Amerindian
vote in the 2006 election, suggesting that Rodrigues’ profile may rise.

¶3. (C) Five cabinet members were assigned new ministries:

–Manzoor Nadir, leader of the minor party The United Force (TUF) took over as Minister of Labour. As Minister of Tourism, Commerce, and Industry, the impoverished Nadir mysteriously became well off. He is Jagdeo’s only
cross-party appointee.

–Clement Rohee, previously Minister of Foreign Trade, was moved to the Ministry of Home Affairs. Rohee is a PPP Executive Committee member, and stays in the cabinet because of his loyalty to Janet Jagan, who reportedly fought hard with Jagdeo for his inclusion. Rohee is known for unwillingness to delegate or accept advice, and has been skewered in the local media for his mishandling of the foreign affairs portfolio (Previous EmbOffs have shared this opinion-see 94 Georgetown 03220 for a particularly vivid description of Rohee’s incompetence).

While his appointment to Home Affairs was surprising, party stalwarts have
traditionally occupied this post, and Jagdeo may be trying to keep the Ministry-which oversees the Guyana Police Force and domestic intelligence activities-under close watch.

–Harry Narine Nawbatt, the former Minister of Transport, became Minister of Housing and Water. He is a longtime teacher and civil servant.

–Dr. Henry Jeffrey, formerly Minister of Education, was named Minister of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation. Jeffrey, who came in via CIVIC, holds several U.K. academic degrees, including a doctorate in management
philosophy. He served as a researcher and director of the Kuru-Kuru Cooperative College under Burnham’s People’s National Congress (PNC) administration, but was fired for writing a book that criticized PNC policies. A minister since 1992, Jeffrey has not proven terribly effective in any of his
assignments.

–Shaik Baksh, the former Minister of Housing and Water, is now Minister of Education. He has sat for the PPP in the National Assembly since 1992.Rumors of corruption associated with the allocation of house lots during his tenure as Minister of Housing circulate widely, including among PPP
insiders.

¶4. (C) The remaining ten ministries were doled out primarily to PPP insiders and Jagdeo’s confidantes:

–Dr. Ashni Singh, former Director of the Budget Office, was tapped as the new Minister of Finance. Singh was awarded the prestigious Chevening Scholarship to study in the U.K., and holds a Ph.D. in Accounting and Finance. He is widely regarded as competent. However, Jagdeo-a former Finance Minister himself-has previously run financial policy directly out of his own office, and may not allow Singh much autonomy.

–Robeson Benn, head of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), was named Minister of Transport and Hydraulics. Benn is a geologist by trade, educated in Germany and Canada. He is a capable administrator with
rumored Prime Ministerial ambitions-his appointment to the Transport Ministry puts him in direct, daily contact with Hinds.

–Robert Persaud was appointed Minister of Agriculture, taking up the post previously held by the assassinated Satyadeow Sawh. Persaud will also assume responsibility for Fisheries, Crops, and Livestock, formerly a separate
portfolio, thus increasing his clout. As the President’s Information Liaison and the Head of the Government Information Agency (GINA), Persaud ran the PPP propaganda machine. He is a PPP Executive Committee member and
whispers have him tagged as a possible 2011 presidential candidate. He is seen as the President’s personal “spin doctor,” and took over the editorship of the PPP party newspaper, The Mirror, from Janet Jagan. He is reportedly Jagdeo’s newphew-in-law.

–Priya Manickchand, an attorney and legal consultant to Jagdeo, was named Minister of Human Services and Social Security, taking over from a discredited Bibi Shadick. Her portfolio is expected to include Trafficking in Persons issues. Manickchand has worked for the Georgetown Legal Aid
Clinic, a USAID-funded initiative. There are quiet rumors that she is romantically involved with Jagdeo.

–Manniram Prashad, a businessman and former presidential advisor on investment matters, will be Minister of Tourism, Industry, and Commerce. Prashad owned a struggling travel and eco-tourism agency and has served as President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC). He advocates foreign direct investment, though as Investment Advisor to the President he was widely suspected of benefiting personally from government contracts and foreign investment concessions.

–Dr. Frank Anthony, a PPP fixture and advisor to the president since 1992,was named Minister of Culture, Youth, and Sport. With the Cricket World Cup coming up, this will e a crucial portfolio. Anthony, educated in Jeruslem and Moscow, serves as first secretary of thePPP’s youth arm, the
Progressive Youth Organizaton (PYO), and is rumored to be a possible 2011 presidential candidate. As Executive Director of the Health Sector Development Unit in the Ministry of Health, he has worked cooperatively with U.S. Embassy and PEPFAR staff on several occasions. Anthony also serves as deputy chairman of the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC),
charged with monitoring and reducing ethnic tensions between Guyana’s major racial groups.

–Moscow-educated Kellawan Lall, a member of the PPP Executive Committee and political advisor to the President, will serve as Minister of Local Government and Regional Development. Lall reportedly began his political career as a yard boy in the PPP’s Berbice office, and was brought up
the party ladder by Janet Jagan.

¶5. (C) Jagdeo named three appointees as Minsters within a Ministry, i.e. Junior Ministers:

–Jennifer Webster, former permanent secretary in the Office of the President, was named Minister within the Ministry of Finance. She studied economics in Canada and is a professional accountant.

–Dr. Bheri Ramsaran will be Minister in the Ministry of Health. Ramsaran, a Russian- educated medical doctor, is a former member of the PPP Executive Committee. He was previously Director of Regional Health, and incoming Minister of Health Ramsammy told EmbOffs that Ramsaran would continue
to oversee delivery of health services to outlying areas, while also managing Cuban-Guyanese cooperation in health matters. While Ramsammy is not known for sharing the limelight, he appears to trust Ramsaran.

–Dr. Desrey Fox, a museum curator and U.S.-educated linguist, will be Minister in the Ministry of Education. She is thought to be a possible candidate for Prime Minister.

——————————–
TWO FROM OLD GUARD MISS THE CUT
——————————–

¶6. (C) Two notable absences:

–Moses Nagamootoo, the former Information Minister and PPP stalwart, was not named to the cabinet. He had an acrimonious falling out with the party over its involvement with phantom death squads in 2004, and Jagdeo asked him back into the fold only a few months before elections. Nagamootoo
told EmbOffs that he had requested Home Affairs or Foreign Affairs, and that Jagdeo had offered him an advisory position or a foreign posting instead. He declined the overseas assignment and has not decided whether to take an advisory position.

–Gail Teixeira, former Minister of Home Affairs and in the
cabinet since 1992, did not retain a ministerial position.
She had told several members of the international community
before the elections that she did not want a cabinet position
and had her eye on High Commissioner to Canada. Jagdeo said
that Teixeira, a PPP Executive Committee member, would
continue to work in the Office of the President and would
chair a committee on governance issues.

——–
COMMENT
——–

¶7. (SBU) Outraged letters to the editor bemoaned Jagdeo’s
failure to reach out across party lines, but it was
unrealistic to expect him to bestow any ministerial positions
on his People’s National Congress (PNC) archrivals after
winning in a landslide. The grumblers never acknowledge that
Jagdeo’s cabinet-which roughly mirrors Guyana’s diverse
ethnic makeup-is 30% Afro-Guyanese. Although Jagdeo has
committed to a vague “enhanced framework for inter-party
cooperation,” he has never answered PNC leader Robert
Corbin’s call for “shared and inclusive” governance. With an
absolute majority in the National Assembly, the PPP has no
reason to share its victory spoils.

¶8. (SBU) Guyana’s political future will depend on whether
Jagdeo demands honesty and real governance reforms from his
ministers-or just political fidelity. As the U.S. and the
international community push for post-election change, Jagdeo
and the PPP government will have little incentive to overhaul
the system they so effectively control.

Robinson

6/20/126:41 PM