The government's withdrawal from the American Convention on Human Rights would remove the obligation of the government to guarantee the rights enshrined in that treaty to people within its jurisdiction. There are currently about 75 men and women under sentence of death in Trinidad and Tobago, where death by hanging is the mandatory punishment for conviction of murder. The government scheduled 20 executions in 1998, including for ten men who had petitions pending with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. There are persistent reports that trials, including in capital cases, fail to meet international standards for fairness. Conditions of detention, including on remand and in prisons are reportedly so overcrowded and unsanitary as to constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.
Corporal punishment remains a lawful sentence after conviction for some crimes.
There are over 20 people under sentence of death in Guyana, where the death penalty remains the mandatory punishment after conviction of murder. This move followed an earlier declaration by the government that it would not follow the recommendations made by the Human Rights Committee upon its consideration of the first case brought by two men under sentence of death in Guyana. In this case, the Human Rights Committee concluded that both men were deprived of a fair trial, as their rights to a defence and trial without undue delay had been violated, and that therefore imposing a sentence of death violated their rights not to be arbitrarily deprived of their life. These conclusions were based , among other things on the fact that one of the men was not represented by counsel for the first four days of a second re-trial. The Committee also concluded that the conditions in which they were detained pre-trial and on death row violated their rights to be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.