GUYANA · JUSTICE
Key Facts
- —The country Guyana, a small English-speaking republic on South America’s Atlantic coast, hosts ExxonMobil’s offshore oil operations and has not carried out an execution since 1997.
- —Why it matters The president of a country at the centre of US oil interests has called for a penalty stronger than prison, although his government told a United Nations committee in 2024 that it had put no money into any capacity to execute anyone.
- —Why now President Irfaan Ali spoke on Tuesday 20 October 2026, hours after the body of a six-year-old boy was found in a canal in West Coast Berbice.
- —What happened Ali said he backs the death penalty “100%” for heinous crimes and has asked the Attorney General to examine the issue.
- —The numbers The last executions were on 25 August 1997, a gap of more than 29 years, and the boy had been missing since 14 October.
- —What it means for you US investors and visitors face no legal change today, because the death penalty is already in Guyana’s law and only a review has been ordered.
- —Still open What the review will cover, whether it leads to a bill or to executions resuming, and when the Attorney General will report.
The Guyana death penalty is back on the political agenda after President Irfaan Ali said on Tuesday 20 October 2026 that he backs it “100%” for the most heinous crimes. He spoke after the body of a six-year-old boy was found in a canal at Bath Settlement, on the West Coast of Berbice, and said he had asked the Attorney General to examine the issue.
For US readers, the statement comes from the president of the country where ExxonMobil, the operator of the offshore Stabroek Block, produces its oil, and no policy change has followed yet. A review is not a law, and Guyana has not carried out an execution since 25 August 1997.
We covered the money behind the oil boom in Guyana Oil Earnings Reach US$3.88 Billion. Our guide Guyana in Latin America, Its Role, Weight and Alliances explains the country’s politics, alliances and border dispute.
What Ali Said About the Death Penalty
Ali spoke in an interview with Neil Marks of News Room, a Guyanese news outlet, and the government’s Department of Public Information (DPI) published its own account the same evening. He called the killing “atrocious” and said, in News Room’s words, that “the death penalty is something that we have to look at if we want to really send a strong signal.”
Asked whether the death penalty was the strongest signal he had in mind, Ali answered “100%,” according to News Room. DPI, which publishes the government’s statements, rendered the same answer as “One hundred percent.”
Ali said he is “very cognizant of the human rights issues and challenges,” News Room reported, but argued that some crimes demand a response that shows such behaviour has no place in society. DPI added that he said the judicial process must take its course first, and that once justice has been served the country should consider whether more severe penalties are warranted in the most extreme cases.
The Guyana Chronicle named Attorney General Anil Nandlall as the official asked to examine the legal implications of capital punishment and other measures. Neither News Room nor DPI says what form the review will take or when it will report.
The Case Behind the Debate
A six-year-old boy from Bath Settlement had been missing since 14 October, the Guyana Chronicle reported. His body was found in the early hours of Tuesday in a canal near the sea dam, and Region Five police commander Lonsdale Whithrite told News Room that information from the boy’s father led officers to it.
The father, aged 45, remains in police custody after reportedly telling police that he threw the boy into the water, according to DPI, which cites police sources. A post-mortem examination is expected to establish the cause of death, and the sources reviewed report no formal charge so far.
We are not naming the child or his family, and the father’s reported account remains an allegation until a court rules. Education Minister Sonia Parag and Human Services Minister Vindhya Persaud both condemned the killing, according to the Guyana Chronicle.
Where the Guyana Death Penalty Law Stands
The death penalty remains in Guyana’s law and courts still impose death sentences, News Room wrote, but no execution has followed since two men were hanged at Georgetown Prison on 25 August 1997. Both had been convicted of a 1986 murder during a robbery in Corentyne, Berbice.
Before 2010 every murder carried a mandatory death sentence, the Guyana Chronicle reported in 2024, and Parliament then amended the Criminal Law (Offences) Act to give judges discretion. Judges may now choose a prison term, life imprisonment or death for certain murders, such as felony murder or the killing of a security officer, a judge or a witness.
News Source Guyana reported in 2024 that the Court of Appeal refused in 2022 to strike down the death penalty as unconstitutional. It added that international bodies, including the International Commission against the Death Penalty, had urged Guyana for eight years to abolish it.
How the Government Spoke in 2024
On 18 March 2024 Gail Teixeira, Guyana’s Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, told the United Nations Human Rights Committee that Guyana keeps an “ad hoc or informal moratorium” on executions that dates from 1997. She said the government had put no money into building the capacity to carry out an execution, according to the Guyana Chronicle and News Source Guyana.
Teixeira said citizens would decide the future of the penalty through constitutional reform, with consultations in all ten administrative regions. A similar process in 1999 to 2001 found a general view that the penalty should stay on the books even though it is not used, the Guyana Chronicle reported.
Ali’s remarks set a different tone from that 2024 statement, although he has not said that executions will resume. Whether he wants the penalty used, or only kept for the worst crimes, is not clear from the interview.
Earlier Calls After the Mobil Station Bombing
The debate did not start this week. After the bombing of a Mobil service station in Georgetown on 26 October 2025, Home Affairs Minister Oneidge Walrond said “we will be making a case for the death penalty,” DPI reported at the time.
DPI added that Guyana’s law on terrorist acts includes the death penalty where such an act results in a death. Four accused remain on remand, and Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty is due to rule on 10 November 2026 on whether they stand trial in the High Court, the Guyana Times reported.
No one has been convicted in that case, and the accused are presumed innocent. The case shows that the question of capital punishment has been raised by ministers twice in a year, in very different cases.
What It Means for You
US investors in ExxonMobil face no change from this announcement, because the Guyana death penalty is already part of the law and only an official review has been ordered. They can watch for the Attorney General’s findings and for any move by Parliament, since Teixeira said in 2024 that removing the penalty would need to go back to the legislature.
Visitors and residents face no new rule today, and no source reports a bill. Our guide Guyana Explained: The Oil Boom, the Politics, the Economy and What to Watch and our report Robert Corbin’s PNC and Guyana Political Legacy cover how power is organised in Georgetown.
What Is Not Known
The sources do not say what the Attorney General has been asked to deliver, by when, or whether Ali wants to widen the list of crimes that carry death or to resume executions. No bill has been reported, and no text of Ali’s remarks beyond the News Room interview and the DPI summary was available.
The father’s reported account comes from police sources cited by DPI and the Guyana Chronicle and has not been tested in court. No charge, post-mortem result or court date had been reported in the sources reviewed on Wednesday 21 October 2026.
It is not known whether the constitutional consultations that Teixeira described in 2024 have taken place or what they found on the Guyana death penalty. Opposition parties and rights groups had not been quoted on Ali’s remarks in the sources reviewed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Guyana have the death penalty?
Yes, the Guyana death penalty remains in the law and judges can still impose it for certain murders. No execution has been carried out since 25 August 1997.
What did President Ali say about the death penalty?
Ali said on 20 October 2026 that he backs it “100%” as a stronger response to heinous crimes. He said he had asked the Attorney General to examine the issue.
Has Guyana said it will resume executions?
No source reviewed says so, and Ali said the judicial process must take its course. In 2024 a minister told the United Nations that Guyana keeps an informal moratorium and had built no capacity to execute anyone.
Which case prompted the president’s remarks?
The body of a six-year-old boy was found in a canal in West Coast Berbice on 20 October after he had been missing since 14 October. The boy’s father is in police custody and reportedly told police he was responsible, which remains an allegation.
Does this affect US visitors or investors?
Not directly, because the law already allows the penalty and only a review has been ordered. Investors can watch for the Attorney General’s findings and any bill in Parliament.
Sources: Department of Public Information (Guyana), 20 October 2026; News Room, 20 October 2026; iNews Guyana, 20 October 2026; Guyana Chronicle, 20 October 2026; Guyana Chronicle, 20 October 2026 (ministers); Guyana Chronicle, 20 October 2026 (Minister Persaud); Guyana Chronicle, 20 March 2024; News Source Guyana, 18 March 2024; Department of Public Information (Guyana), 28 October 2025; Guyana Times, 20 October 2026; ExxonMobil Guyana.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief