Child rights activist pleased with Appeal Court ruling

Sexual Offences Act

A recent Court of Appeal ruling which overturned the decision of former Chief Justice Ian Chang in relation to amendments to the Sexual Offences Act of 2010 has been welcomed by Women and Child Rights Commissioner Nicole Cole, who says she is wholly heartened by the ruling which was handed down last week, and that the decision taken by the Court is synonymous of a progressive society.

“This ruling is absolutely brilliant for us as a society that would like to be seen as progressive, prosperous, and humane; that seeks to ensure the most vulnerable are protected,” Cole stated.
The case stemmed from a High Court ruling which outlined that a magistrate’s decision to send rape accused Ray Bacchus to stand trial in the High Court based on a paper committal was unlawful.
Attorney Mursaline Bacchus had claimed that the paper committal, which is an amendment made to the Sexual Offences Act, undermines the rights of his client, based on the provisions in the Constitution.
He claimed that the amendment does not allow his client to test the credibility of witness statements at the magistrate’s courts through cross examination.
Chang had ruled in favour of Bacchus’s arguments: that the amendment to the Sexual Offences Act 2010 were unlawful; but the ruling was challenged by the State, and a decision was handed down last week.
In June, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack, presented her arguments in Court and gave reasons for her contention that the amendment to the Sexual Offences Act were not unconstitutional.
The DPP contended that the provisions of that part of the Sexual Offences Act, Number 7 of 2010, which purports to give jurisdiction and power to the magistrate to commit an accused person to a High Court trial based on a paper committal, does not contravene the rights of that person based on Article 144(1) and 144(2) of the Constitution.
The article 144(1) and 144(2) of the Constitution reads, “Every person who is charged with a criminal offence shall be permitted to defend him or herself before the court in person or by a legal representative of his or her own choice.”
She noted that in paper committals the accused is afforded a fair hearing, in that in a matter of months his case will be set for trial in the High Court, whereas in the case of Preliminary Inquiry, the process takes much longer. In that regard, the DPP contended that the paper committal benefits both the victim and the accused.
Cole said she agrees with the decision even more so because sexual violence, especially against children, is occurring with impunity every day in Guyana, and it must be stopped.
She said, “There must be no mercy for the merciless and men who rape children, who destroy dreams of happy childhood, leaving death and destruction in the lives of Guyanese children!
“It’s a vicious, predatory cycle whereby (mostly) adult men prey upon both girls and boys sexually, and the law must be seen as a deterrent for their abnormal pedophilia appetite.”
Meanwhile, Cole recalled that the Guyana Human Rights Association has done research dating back to 2004, which points to low, and in some cases no, convictions for sexual offences in Guyana’s judicial system.
She said this new Sexual Offenses Law was therefore seen as revolutionary in capturing those paedophiles who prey upon children, while reminding that women and children endure the brunt of sexual violence.
The Child Rights Commissioner also pointed to recent statistics from the Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA), which points to over 400 cases of abuse against children reported in the first six months of 2018.
“Those 238 reported child rape cases for the month of May, 2018 should occasion nausea in us as a nation… Where are we headed as a society if we fail to protect our children from sexual predators?”
In the previous year, the CCPA reported that there were 841 sexual abuse (rape) cases, with 722 girls and 119 boys experiencing sexual violence. Toddlers were included, as 11 boys in the 0-3 category were reported to the CCPA as being victims of sexual abuse, and there were 32 boys in the 4-7 category.
“46 boys in the 8-13 category and 30 boys in the 14-18 category. There were 28 girls in the 0-3 category reported to the CCPA as being victims of sexual VIOLENCE, with 61 girls in the 4-7 category; 275 in the 8-13 category; and 358 in the 14-18 category for the year ending 2017,” she added.
Cole said that for the month of January, the CCPA recorded 9 boys and 79 girls as victims of sexual violence. “This points to a pattern of widespread paedophilia in Guyana!” she added, making calls again for a Sexual Offences Register to be operationalised in Guyana, to help identify ‘sexual predators.’