U.S. Embassy conducts human rights training for police, prison officers  

 The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) conducted training for members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the Guyana Prison Service on human rights.  

 According to a US Embassy release, the training focused on the Department of State Leahy Law, which prohibits State assistance to foreign security forces if there is credible information that a security force unit has committed a gross violation of human rights (GVHR), to include extrajudicial killings, torture, forced disappearance, or rape under the color of law.     

 The training reviewed definitions of GVHR types, the consequences of committing GVHRs, and the pathways to remediating units whose members have committed these actions so they may once again receive assistance.    

 Through the United States’ Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI), the U.S. Embassy has facilitated the training of 889 police officers in various law enforcement areas, including major case management, forensic video analysis, narcotics investigations, and intelligence gathering, and is poised to facilitate more than a dozen training opportunities in 2022.  This most recent training is an example of the U.S. government’s commitment to working with Guyanese security forces in promoting respect and protection of human rights in policing.