Leader of the Democratic Party – Hon Hakeem Jeffries, Vice Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus – Madam Yvette Clarke;
Member of the House Foreign Relations Committee – Hon Gregory Meeks, and other esteemed guests.
Good afternoon,
I am Melissa Atwell, a proud Guyanese. While some categorize me as a human rights advocate, a social activist, philanthropist, and an influencer, I view myself as a patriot. A patriot conveying the voices of countless individuals failed by systems in my homeland. Though my accolades are many, I am humbled to be in your presence.
The reason for me standing here addressing you today hurts me to my core. It hurts that I hail from a country that has chewed me up and spit me out for speaking truth to power. For exposing the dark underbelly of corruption and injustices. For standing up and defending those who can’t or are too afraid to defend themselves. In addition, they are exposed to a racist, corrupt, heartless government that marginalizes, manipulates, and openly bullies its citizens. It has come to a point where government employees are told that if they follow my page, comment, or like anything I post, they will be terminated from their jobs.
It’s hard being away from my family. My mother needs my help because she has been struggling with my grandmother who has early-onset dementia. But what I do for my people is very important and it needs to be done! Nevertheless, in the face of threats, intimidation, and personal sacrifices, I refuse to surrender to victimhood.
It saddens me to admit that I have been compelled to leave my homeland for daring to shine a light on the unchecked exploitation that thrives within its borders.
The only way any form of injustice and corruption can be addressed in Guyana, by this current Administration is if someone like me with a huge social media following shouts it from the rooftop.
It is no secret that the Guyanese community is highly migratory, and thus, the pain of our people resonates deeply with the constituents across various voting townships and districts in the United States. One of my key messages today is to convey our expectations of our representatives.
The atrocities of my people are many. I am swamped daily with complaints from all across Guyana. Many times, individuals have to use aliases to tell me their stories. I just want to let you know that I came here not to speak without evidence. I speak from a position of authenticity and honesty.
My heart is heavy. It is heavy with the weight of the atrocious secrets of the Guyanese victims that I carry with me every day. Secrets that I am compelled to protect to keep these people and their families alive.
Honorable members of this committee, allow me to inform you about some of the topics I address daily. As I speak to you, these stories may sound farfetched, and out of this world, but hear me when I say this, I have insurmountable evidence to prove my case.
1. Human Rights Violations
2. Police Brutality
3. A corrupt justice system
4. Revocation of one’s US visa for speaking against the Government
5. Blacklisting of Guyanese with knowledge of most, if not all, the atrocities committed by the government.
6. Abuse of esteemed Journalist
7. Sexual abuse by Government Ministers and employees who hold high positions
8. Abuse, victimization, and harassment of Social Media Influencers, activists and people associated with them, including myself.
9. The misuse of taxpayers’ funds and the corruption in awarding of Government contracts.
10. Demotion and, in some cases, no promotion of trained and experienced professionals, so officials could install their friends and family in positions for which those friends and family are not qualified. Nepotism is rampant!
11. The members of our military are hurting. The conditions under which they work are heart-wrenching. Their stories are damning.
Guyana has become a doomed state under the current government. A government that instills fear in the lives of people who disagree with them. Jailed for speaking their truth, jailed for lifting a finger, and in some cases killed. The fear is so intense that mothers are fearful of reporting sexual abuse and assault of their young daughters and sons. Women are afraid of reporting domestic abuse from their partners who are politically connected. Public servants are afraid to speak of injustices, and the list goes on. Speaking on the list, let me start with one that is near to my heart Human Trafficking. For the past 3 years, almost every other week, two or three young ladies go missing. I am talking about young ladies in their early teens, some even as young as 10 or 11 years old.
It has recently come to my attention that these young ladies are being trafficked!
Now, the reason why the mountain of evidence is being ignored is that it is alleged that police officers are involved. Most recently, one of the missing teenagers, a 13-year-old girl, after being found, told her family members and the authorities that she was held in a house where she saw other missing teens. The young girl stated that she was given $10, 000 (Guyanese dollars, the equivalent of 50 US) and told to go with a certain gentleman. Notwithstanding, the fact that she was sold by a friend of the family to this individual for $200 US dollars.
Then there is also evidence of young women in the Hinterlands being sexually trafficked and abused by members of the government. Even with a surplus of evidence from the victims themselves, and other Human Rights groups that came on board to assist, nothing is being done about the situation because the victims suddenly withdraw their statements! Police officers and family members are bribed, and the victims’ voices become a deafening silence. The government officials remain on their jobs. They are so bold that they have become trolls on social media – cyber-bullying people who speak up.
When it comes to abuse of power, sexual harassment is the most prevalent because it is not even frowned upon in our society. It is especially problematic in Indigenous communities where people are less likely to speak out. They are miles away from populated areas and police outposts, so they become the “easy targets” predators. I have tons of letters and voice notes sent to me about the sexual abuse of young girls in those villages, and the perpetrators are allegedly almost always government officials such as police officers, soldiers, and Council members assigned to the areas.
Staying in the line of abuse of power, I have seen so many who are blacklisted for speaking up. Hindered from making an honest living. Female JOURNALISTS are slut-shamed for writing articles that don’t please them. Just recently, a female journalist with over 20 years in the business was called demeaning names and slut-shamed for writing an op-ed about the alleged arm of the PPP that condones certain atrocities on social media that some folks call “The Troll Farm”.
Staying on the topic of blacklisting, and the hindrance of progress of people who dared to speak up, these are a few people who come to mind:
Kwasi Ace Edmondson
Jumo Primo
Odessa Primus
Randolph Critchlow
Dorrel Romeo
All great entertainers, but are hindered from performing at any event that is sponsored or hosted by the PPP/ One Guyana movement. When these individuals venture to put on their own shows and events, their posters are taken down, available venues are suddenly not available anymore. And this is just to name a few. There are so many more I can add to this list.
Ministry of Education…..
I might be jumping around a bit, but please bear with me as I try to navigate the plethora of information that is sitting in my inbox. The Ministry of Education and their tone-deaf approach to the academic achievement of Guyana’s children is appalling, to say the least. Recently, students were forced to pull out umbrellas in their classrooms during teaching and learning. When it rains in some schools, students have to cover themselves to avoid getting wet! Then there was the incident where a school in the Hinterlands was burned to ashes killing 20 young ladies. Ministry officials cleaned up the area where the building was and attempted to send the children from the male dorm, who survived the fire, back into the compound weeks later. It did not matter that those surviving children were still traumatized from the screams of their classmates to whom most of them were related. There is no evidence of any counseling for the surviving children. In addition, when some of the children told the Ministry officials how difficult it was for them to be there, they were told – it was either there, or stay home, or find some other way to get an education because the government would not be funding their education at another learning institution. Those young boys are now in the gold mines working with their fathers and uncles. I doubt there is any kind of therapy involved there.
Our Healthcare system is suffering terribly. Whether it’s outdated medical equipment that has been bought for a ridiculous amount of money and ends up not being used because it is outdated, or expired medication. There are also contracts given out to friends and family to bring in medication that is not vetted or examined. Desperately sick people are also being told they can’t get help at the free public hospitals, then they are being directed to a private hospital, owned by big donors of the government. Some government officials are even partners in these private medical facilities.
Our local nurses are overworked and underpaid with their complaints falling on deaf ears.
Even our police force uses strong-arm tactics to intimidate the citizens. They are left to carry out justice without oversight. Drunk drivers are caught and released with a warning and their licenses in their hands even after harming, or killing an individual just because of who they know, or how much money they have. However, they too are also victimized if they speak up or refuse to play these games. Promotions are withheld from honest long serving members of the force who refused to carry out these commands. So an honest, by-the-book police officer, with 20 years of service can find themselves answering to a superior who is in the force 2 years with a dozen complaints against his or her name. Our soldiers suffer the same fate or even worse because of the rampant corruption.
Justice often takes a backseat. Murderers, rapists, drug dealers, and armed robbers roam the streets freely because of who they know, and how much money they can shell out for their freedom. And that’s the main reason why Guyana has always been on the list of countries to avoid.
Infrastructure
This is also known as the friends and family organization. There are hardly any calls to make bids on road projects or construction of government buildings and schools. If you are friendly with them and you can curse out the opposition, or anyone who opposes them, you can have a contract. If you call yourself a journalist with no accreditation or credentials, but you have a Facebook page where you can spew racist slurs like calling black people hungry belly dogs, you can get a contract to build a wharf or oversee multi-billion dollar drainage and irrigation contracts. It does not matter that the tender board employees and other bidders who are more qualified are screaming about the number of violations these contracts have broken. Consequently, what follows this blatant disregard for protocol is poorly built roads and bridges, wharves etc.
Honorable members, Guyana needs your attention. It is a failed state, and I do not say that lightly. There is no hope for working people, the less fortunate or those who are not friends and family of the in-power government. Those are the people who are calling for changes, like a clean voters list, and installing biometrics to ensure that our elections are conducted fairly, because that too has been tainted.
I asked that you refrain from sending delegates to sit in an Air-Conditioned office and walk the lighted halls of the Marriot Hotel just to say we sent a delegation. We need them to visit the people of Guyana and speak with them.
I will continue to utilize my platform to amplify the voices of the marginalized, shedding light on the injustices that lurk in the shadows. It is only through collective action and unwavering determination that we can effect meaningful change.
Ladies and gentlemen, Marcus Garvey journeyed from Jamaica to the United States advocating for our people. Walther Rodney traversed continents with a similar mission and the great Robert Nesta Marley spread his message worldwide. Today we urge you to follow in their footsteps. We implore you to leverage the power of your position, your pen and your influence to uplift our communities. I pledge to mobilize my thousands of followers, many of whom are in your constituents, to ensure your reelection. Additionally, we express our gratitude for the exceptional work you’ve done for our communities here in New York.
Before I close, allow me to get personal. As I stand here, I am fearful for my life and the lives of my son, mother, and grandmother back home in Guyana. I am fearful for my husband over here. He has been subjected to daily harassment by government ministers and their trolls. My home and my details are posted daily.
Although I will not be stopped, I am fearful, you know, besides the “one Guyana” narrative the government has come up with there’s another slogan called “because we care” – But I say deva for who?
And with that, I leave my family and the family of all hurting Guyanese in your hands.
Congressman Hakeem Jeffries Congresswoman Yvette Clarke Thank you for giving me a listening ear 
