puerto rico: spurning europe, governments stiffening penalties, limiting appeals
November 12, 2008
Capital punishment is on the books across the English-speaking Caribbean, and governments are stiffening penalties and limiting appeals. At least 90 prisoners are on death row in the region, including four men who were ordered to be hanged in St Kitts and Nevis in August before a court granted a reprieve.
A primary obstacle is the London-based Privy Council, the highest court of review for many former British colonies. It ruled that sentences must be commuted to life in prison if the condemned are not executed within five years, a window some consider unreasonable because appeals are so slow.
Rising crime also plagues the Caribbean's French and British territories, but capital punishment is a political non-starter for these islands because laws would need rewriting in the abolitionist strongholds of London and Paris. The Netherlands and its Caribbean territories also outlawed capital punishment.
Jamaica hardest hit
Hit hardest is Jamaica, where more than 1,240 murders have been committed since the start of the year. But smaller resort islands are affected too. After two British honeymooners were shot dead in July in Antigua, the Government proposed the gallows for crimes involving weapons, even if the victim were not killed.
Rev Terrence Brown, of Holiness Christian Church in Jamaica's Spanish Town, is one of several prominent Jamaican churchmen pressing for executions. He said the violence was destroying families, and suggested himself a hangman to prove there would be no shortage of volunteers. The idea stirred a national debate, and despite some criticism, many have echoed his offer. "I know many persons who are willing to do it," he said....
Author: Gleaner Reporter
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
