Guyana’s score declines in 2021 Freedom in the World Report

Apr 18, 2021 – Kaieteur News – Guyana’s rating has declined in the 2021 Freedom in the World Report, which is prepared by Freedom House, a U.S-based and government-funded non-profit and non-governmental organisation that researches and advocates for democracy, human rights and political freedom.

The report rates 210 countries and territories based on their people’s access to political rights and civil liberties, as well as individual freedoms, which can include, but are not limited to; the right to vote, freedom of expression and equality before the law (which can be affected by state or non-state factors), according to the organisation.

Guyana’s overall rating this year is 73 out of 100. Despite managing to maintain its “free” status, Guyana had scored 74 out of 100 last year. Further, the report gives Guyana a score of 30 out of 40 for political rights. Guyana’s score for political rights last year was 31 out of 40. For civil liberties this year, Guyana scored 43 out of 60, which is the only score that remained the same.

Freedom House noted that while Guyana is a parliamentary democracy that conducts regular elections, has a lively press and robust civil society; discrimination against indigenous and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) people and violent crimes remain significant problems for the country.

Even though Guyana maintained its “free” status, this year it obtained the lowest score among Caribbean countries with Haiti being the only exception, getting 37 as its overall score, 15 for political rights and 22 for civil liberties. Barbados with an overall score of 95 is the highest-scoring Caribbean country. It also scored 38 for political rights and 57 for civil liberties.

Barbados was followed by Dominica with an overall score of 93, 37 for political rights and 56 for civil liberties. St. Vincent & the Grenadines has the third-highest score in the Caribbean with an overall score of 91, 36 for political rights and 55 for civil liberties.

Comments

brandli62 On 04/19/2021 at 10:23 am
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While there is room for improvement, the decline by one point is simply statistical noise. Nothing to be bothered about.
Dennis Albert On 04/19/2021 at 1:33 pm
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Although freedom of the press is generally respected, government officials have filed defamation cases and occasionally made threats against journalists in response to negative coverage. Criminal defamation charges can draw up to two years in prison.

The opposition has accused the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority, whose board is appointed by the president, of partisan bias in its regulatory and licensing decisions. Concerns over the editorial independence of the state-owned Guyana Chronicle have also been raised in recent years.
- brandli62 On 04/20/2021 at 4:14 am
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  You are absolutely right in your analysis, Dennis. I recall that the final report of the EU election observer commission made similar recommendations. Specifically, they felt Guyana needs independent public radio and TV stations, which are not under the control of the incumbent government. They should over unbiased and neutral reporting for the public. The BBC or CBC could serve as an example.
  - Dennis Albert On 04/20/2021 at 9:10 pm
    
    I know that America has a variety of news media, even if they are cringey as Fox news, but Are the BBC and CBC funded in part by the government?
    
    The British believe that they are forced to pay a TV license tax through government coercion, and the Canadians believe that the current government is buying their way to promote their image using CBC and the media conglomerate.
    
    Even in Guyana, the moderators of Stabroek News and Kaieteur News are afraid to post negative commentary about certain Canadian politicians. Contributor Yvonne Sam posted a letter criticising Kathleen Wynne, and the media refused to publish it at first I heard.
brandli62 On 04/21/2021 at 4:29 am
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Regarding the BBC, its work is funded principally by an annual television licence fee which is charged to all British households, companies, and organisations using any type of equipment to receive or record live television broadcasts and iPlayer catch-up. The same is true for public broadcasters in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. In other countries, such as Sweden, funding is provided by the state. In the US, PBS for TV and NPR are partially funded by the federal government, cooperate donors, and by voluntary contributions from listeners. In my opinion, particularly NPR is excellent. It was my best source of information during my time in the US from 1990 to 1994. Actually, I still listen to NPR on a daily basis. Regarding the Guyanese media, I am not an expert as I do not live in the country and I do not follow the TV news outlets. From personal experience, it is not easy to get letters to the editor published, if they address controversial issues. My commentaries on the general elections 2020 were first published here on Guyanese Online, and subsequently were sent to all principal news outlets in Guyana. It was only the Guyana Chronicle, who dared to publish them. GC is now under new management and they would probably decline to publish…
- Dennis Albert On 04/22/2021 at 1:56 pm
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  The GC these days are pro-PPP.
  
  One good thing with Guyana is that the “criminal libel” laws during the British Empire are not used here, unlike in Canada and the UK where it is used under the guise of protecting public interest policies.
Dennis Albert On 04/29/2021 at 9:02 pm
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Like Alison Redford from Canada is being protected for robbing third world countries of their resources?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/04/29/canada-trudeau-c-10-bill-internet-jj-mccullough/

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