Calls for Stronger Religious Protections, Equal Recognition of Heritage, and AI Safeguards Dominate ERC Constitutional Reform Consultation

By Antonio Dey | HGP Nightly News |

LILIENDAAL, EAST COAST DEMERARA — Comprehensive recommendations urging statutory protection for minority religious rites, constitutional recognition of cultural heritage across all ethnic groups, the operational revival of the Human Rights Commission, and explicit safeguards against human rights abuses stemming from Artificial Intelligence took center stage on Tuesday as the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) hosted a national public consultation on constitutional reform.

Convened at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), the consultation provided a direct platform for faith-based leaders, civic organizations, business chambers, and grassroots advocacy bodies to submit proposed constitutional amendments designed to enhance democratic governance, safeguard civil liberties, and foster social cohesion.

Participants emphasized that modernizing the supreme law of Guyana requires confronting long-standing systemic inequities faced by religious and cultural communities while modernizing the constitution to anticipate digital and technological disruption.

Faith and Family Law: Muslim Community Urges Marriage, Holiday, and Burial Reforms

Leading the submissions on religious equity, representatives from the Muslim community presented detailed proposals urging formal legal frameworks to safeguard Islamic family law while protecting vulnerable parties:

• Statutory Framework for Marriages and Divorces: Submissions recommended enactments providing formal state registration and governance over Muslim marriages and divorces. Crucially, the proposals mandate strict statutory safeguards ensuring informed consent, independent legal representation, full protection of children’s welfare, and supervisory jurisdiction by the High Court over consequential property and custody disputes.
• Statutory Equality for Holidays and Rites: Muslim advocates called for equal statutory recognition of Muslim religious holidays, formal protections for Islamic burial practices, and equalized tax-exempt treatment for religious organizations delivering charitable and community social services.
• Equal Rights Over Privilege: Speakers reiterated that the community is not requesting special carve-outs, but rather the full, tangible realization of equality and religious freedom guaranteed by the Constitution of Guyana.

“It is recommended that there is an enactment… registration…” stressed Aleema Nasir, Chairman of the Rights of the Child Commission, detailing the procedural standards required for faith-based family registration.

Emerging Tech and Commonwealth Voting: The Indian Action Committee Proposals

Presenting on behalf of the Indian Action Committee (IAC), representative Evan Persaud tabled technical proposals addressing civic participation, ethnic recognition, and modern technological risks:

• Commonwealth Franchise (Article 47): Persaud proposed updating Article 47 of the Constitution to modernize obsolete Commonwealth citizenship references and explicitly codify an updated schedule of eligible Commonwealth countries whose citizens may vote in national elections.
• AI Safeguards in Fundamental Rights (Article 154A): Addressing digital advancements, the IAC advocated amending Article 154A to introduce explicit constitutional protections preventing human rights infringements, privacy violations, and automated bias caused by Artificial Intelligence technologies.
• Multicultural Recognition (Article 35): The IAC sought amendments to strengthen Article 35 by formally recognizing the historical and cultural contributions made by each of Guyana’s six recognized ethnic groups to nation-building.

“The ethnic relations concern, it addresses the IAC… which may have political and religious implications…” Persaud noted during his submission.

Calls to Reinstate Human Rights Commission and Protect Rastafari Rights

The consultation also highlighted strong support for operationalizing dormant constitutional commissions and dismantling cultural marginalization:

• Reviving the Human Rights Commission: President of the Women’s Chamber of Commerce and representative of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Josephine Tapp-Rutherford, called for the swift reconstitution and operationalization of the long-dormant Human Rights Commission, alongside institutional strengthening across all constitutional rights bodies.
• Rastafari Cultural Protections: Delegates from the Rastafari community voiced frustration over enduring discrimination, demanding formal legal recognition of their cultural and spiritual practices, and calling for an end to social and ethnic marginalization that hinders their economic advancement.

“We also wanna add our support of the reinstatement of the Human Rights Commission… and strengthening the effectiveness of our constitutional bodies,” stated Tapp-Rutherford.

“We have no indigenous rights in this country due to our ethnicity that has been hampering our social development and progress,” a representative from the Rastafari community declared.

The Ethnic Relations Commission indicated that all stakeholder submissions will be compiled and presented to the constitutional reform bodies to ensure public recommendations inform legislative debates on revising Guyana’s supreme law.