Attorney General, Members of Congress, Guyana’s MP headline Transnational Repression Crime forum today in NY

Attorney General of New York, Letitia James, Members of Congress, Brooklyn District Attorney, New York City Mayor’s Office, US Justice Department, New York State Senators, New York State Assembly Members, New York City Council Members, Representatives from the FBI and NYPD, Member of Parliament, Ganesh Mahipaul, CGID President, Rickford Burke and others will highlight an important and unprecedented Guyanese diaspora Town Hall meeting in Brooklyn today, October 30, 2022, at Woodbine Ballroom: 2281 Church Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11226. The event begins at 5 p.m.  This is according to a release by the Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID), who is hosting the forum with Guyanese Organisations Against Racism (GOAR) and twenty-one other Guyanese Diaspora Organisations.

The forum will address increased incidents of transnational repression crimes and attacks on Guyanese Americans in the United States by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) government and the Guyana Police Force, as stated in the release.

CGID said recent actions by the Guyana Government and Police Force joined countries like Russia and Iran to target nationals living in the United States who they consider to be dissidents. “They have issued wanted bulletins and have used agents to harass and make death threats against US citizens. They even attack Members of Congress who also speak out.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on its website identifies transnational repression as illegal and happens “when foreign governments stalk, intimidate, or assault people in the United States.” According to the FBI, governments use transnational repression tactics to silence the voices of their citizens (or non-citizens connected to the country), get information from them, or coerce them to return home.

CGID has accused Guyana’s Attorney General, Anil Nandall, of allegedly advocating action in the U.S that threatened the life of their President, Rickford Burke. The alleged advocacy the organisation said has resulted in harassment to Burke and threats to his loved ones.

Organisers of the event are calling on Members of Congress and the Joe Biden Administration to foster a more pragmatic US Foreign Policy Agenda with Guyana to promote democratic and inclusive governance and justice and adherence to the rule of law.

According to the release, the forum is designed to devise strategies for US elected and government officials as well as law enforcement to combat transnational repression crimes against Guyanese in the US and New York, by the “regressive PPP government.”