Ramjattan uses erroneous Mc Dougall report to bolster his claim that Indos being favoured over Afros

The report of the supposedly 'Independent Expert on Minority Issues', Gay McDougall which is being used as a reference in the Jagdeo v/s Kissoon libel case by Kissoon's attorneys caused an uproar in Guyana. The report was deemed extremely flawed and biased. The report consisted of a number of negative findings about human rights violations and racial prejudice, without applying an appropriate methodology. The tone of the McDougall Report suggested that it was intended to reinforce the “Doudou Dienne Report”. That Report suggested that “every level of Guyanese society is permeated by a profound moral, emotional and political fatigue, arising out of the individual and collective impact of ethnic polarisation.”

McDougall had no substantial meetings with Government Officials tasked with human rights responsibilities; but instead met with substantive members of the opposition, the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA), ‘fly-by-night’ non-governmental organizations, civil society and some members of the Social Sciences Faculty of the University of Guyana. The so-called independent expert visited communities, and talked to community members about their lives and issues, disregarding inputs from a representative and multiethnic cross-section of Guyana.

Reliable sources indicated that well-known names from the Social Sciences Faculty who are also connected to the PNC assisted in the writing of the McDougall report, giving biased and flawed information to McDougall. McDougall’s reports for Australia and Greece were previously rejected; these countries claimed that the reports were filled with inconsistencies and were grossly slanted against their governments.
The McDougall report exerted the opposition’s line and failed to incorporate even a miniscule aspect of the government’s responses. It was seen in some quarters as an attempt to create racial strife and hostility among Guyanese and disturb the peaceful environment that exists today; so as to provide the catalyst for the destabilization of Guyana. So for Khemraj Ramjattan and Nigel Hughes, both AFC senior members to now use this report as a reference to foster the lie that Jagdeo is racist and all his decisions favour Indo-Guyanese over Afro-Guyanese is shameless.