REPORT Nº 1/06
CASE 12.264
PUBLICATION
FRANZ BRITTON
GUYANA
February 28, 2006
I. SUMMARY
1. This Report concerns a petition presented to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ("the Commission") by letter dated March 21, 2000, by I. Kamau Cush, Chairman for Economic Empowerment, Guyana, ("the petitioner&rdquo against the State of Guyana (“the State” or “Guyana&rdquo, on behalf of Mr. Franz Britton, a.k.a. Collie Wills ("Mr. Britton"). The petitioner alleges that the State has violated the rights of Mr. Britton as set forth in the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man ("the Declaration"). According to the petitioner, Mr. Britton, a Guyanese national and father of three children, was first arrested on January 19, 1999, by police officers at Cove and John Police Station, East Coast Demerara, Guyana. Mr. Britton was then released on January 23, 1999. The petitioner claims that Mr. Britton was asked to report on January 25, 1999 to that same police station where he was re-arrested by a police division known as the Quick Reaction Group or the “Black Clothes”. According to the petitioner, the “Black Clothes” division is “a unit that functions as a death squad.” The petitioner states that Mr. Britton was last seen being forced by police officers into a car. The petitioner reports that Mr. Britton has not been seen since his re-arrest on January 25, 1999, and that his whereabouts are unknown, despite multiple inquiries made of the State. The petitioner further alleges that the State has not furnished any information about the whereabouts of Mr. Britton despite these inquiries. For the foregoing reasons, the petitioner claims that the State has violated the human rights of Mr. Britton guaranteed by the provisions of Articles II (the right to equality before the law), XI (the right to the preservation of health and well-being) XVIII, (the right to a fair trial), XXV (the right to protection from arbitrary arrest), and XXVI (the right to due process of law) of the Declaration.
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http://www.cidh.oas.org/annual.../GUYANA.12264eng.htm
VII. RECOMMENDATIONS
41. Based on the analysis and the conclusions in the present report,
THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS REITERATES THE FOLLOWING RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE STATE OF GUYANA:
1. Carry out a serious, impartial and effective investigation by means of the competent organs, to establish the whereabouts of Franz Britton and to identify those responsible for his detention-disappearance, and, by means of appropriate criminal proceedings, to punish those responsible for such grave acts in accordance with the law.
2. Adopt the necessary legislative or other measures to prevent the recurrence of such events and provide, in all cases, the required due process and effective means of establishing the whereabouts and fate of anyone held in State custody.
3. It adopt measures to make full reparation for the proven violations, including taking steps to locate the remains of Franz Britton and to inform the family of their whereabouts; making the arrangements necessary to facilitate the wishes of his family as to an appropriate final resting place; and providing reparations for the relatives of Franz Britton including moral and material damages in compensation for the suffering occasioned by Mr. Britton’s disappearance and not knowing his fate.
VIII. PUBLICATION
42. In accordance with Article 43 of the Commission’s Rules of Procedure, the Commission, the Commission transmitted the content of this report, adopted as Report Nº 77/05 to the State and to the Petitioners by communications dated November 01, 2005. The State was granted a period of two months within which to inform the Commission of the measures taken to comply with the Commission's recommendations. The State failed to present a response within the time limit prescribed by the Commission.
43. Based upon the foregoing considerations, and in the absence of a response by the State to Report Nº 77/05, the Commission in conformity Article 45(3) of its Rules of Procedure decides to ratify the conclusions and reiterate the recommendations in this Report, to make this Report public, and to include it in its Annual Report to the General Assembly of the Organization of American States. The Commission, according to the norms contained in the instruments which govern its mandate, will continue evaluating the measures adopted by the State of Guyana with respect to the above recommendations until they have been complied with by the State.
Done and signed in the city of Washington, D.C., on the 28th day of the month of February, 2006. (Signed): Evelio Fernández Arévalos, President; Paulo Sérgio,Pinheiro, First Vice-President; Florentín Meléndez, Second Vice-President; Clare K. Roberts, Freddy Gutiérrez Trejo, Paolo G. Carozza and Víctor E. Abramovich Commissioners.