The abuses appear to have increased as public protests and demonstrations escalated following the Arab uprisings, the secession of South Sudan in 2011, Sudan’s economic downturn, and the proliferation of new wars in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile.

There is no question whether the Bank's institutionalized, widespread and sustained racial discrimination and systemic denial of due process against an entire group of people is a crime. Whether it is a crime against a group of people or a crime against humanity may be debatable in theory. But in practice, the difference is indistinguishable to the victims.

For years, the program has been associated with human rights abuses and the forced relocation of indigenous communities while paving the road for large-scale land grabs. These issues were highlighted in a report by the World Bank’s own independent Inspection Panel in 2015. Rather than addressing the grave concerns raised about the program, the Bank, instead, chose to launch an almost identical initiative under a new name.

The Justice for Walter Rodney Committee is concerned that, despite a promise by President Granger, the renowned intellectual and activist’s family and the public in Guyana and abroad are yet to receive the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry Report.

Beyond being inconvenient for knowing too much, Gustavo Castro Soto falls into the repressive government’s category of public enemy. Like Cáceres, Castro has been a vocal opponent of dam construction on indigenous rivers, as well as of the broad powers given transnational corporations and the local elite to plunder democracy and the riches of nature.