Assuring the Safety of Guyanese Journalists
The Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM) urges the Guyana Government to do all in its power to protect media workers from violent attacks and acts of intimidation and to ensure it does not send mixed signals about its stated commitment to a safe environment for all journalists and media practitioners in the country.
We note the alleged threat of gun violence against media workers at the Kaieteur News newspaper reportedly made by Attorney General Anil Nandlall and recorded by a senior reporter.
In a statement on the allegations, the Guyana government has described the conversation as “ private; it was illegally recorded, distorted, manipulated and taken out of context to reflect a different dialogue” and that as the Attorney General has since filed legal proceedings “ the matter is currently sub judice”.
We note also, in that same statement, government’s claim that the Kaieteur News was guilty of offensive publications and efforts to “solicit apologies, retractions or clarifications are met with further abuse” and “injunctions issued by the judiciary restraining offensive and libelous publications are ignored with impunity…”
The ACM believes the government must be unambiguous in its stated commitment to freedom of the press especially as it is aware that in 2006 masked men armed with automatic weapons killed four employees of Kaieteur News printing staff execution-style.
The ACM reiterates its unwavering support for media workers in Guyana and calls on the Guyana Government to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law anyone, including public officials, who plot or execute violent attacks on the media.
We also urge our media colleagues to press on and to publish without fear or favor stories deemed to be in the public interest. There are sufficient guarantees in current laws to protect freedom of the press and the rights of individuals and public officials. Violence and the threat of violence against the media offer no solution to the tensions that arise in a modern democracy.
