[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 19


EUROPEAN UNION/JAMAICA:

The EU's crusade against capital punishment


JAMAICA is a Christian country which upholds its constitutional right to invoke 
the death penalty in cases of capital murder. If the accused is convicted, the 
judge may apply the death penalty or life imprisonment, as the death penalty is 
no longer mandatory. No executions have taken place in Jamaica since the 1980s, 
and inmates on death row are likely to have their sentences commuted to life 
imprisonment, according to the Pratt and Morgan ruling handed down by the UK 
Privy Council, which ruled that should the accused be incarcerated for more 
than five years without execution, the sentence must be commuted to life 
imprisonment.

In recent times, killings in Jamaica have retrogressed to an unprecedented 
degree of barbarity involving mutilation, dismemberment and lately decapitation 
of men, women and children. It is at this juncture that Jamaica diverges from 
the EU's crusade to rid the world of capital punishment which is considered 
inhumane and violates human dignity, and should therefore be abandoned.

The argument that capital punishment is not a deterrent continues. Is there a 
person alive who would not seriously reconsider their murderous intent if their 
life could be lost? The indomitable human spirit is forever concerned about 
self-preservation, evidenced by the existence of relative peace in the world 
due to the presence of nuclear weapons which so far have prevented another 
world holocaust.

There is an overwhelming belief that capital punishment is effective, and that 
any depiction of cruelty and inhumane treatment for the accused should be 
expressed, instead for the victims and their families. Furthermore, human 
activists are slow to condemn the killing of law enforcement officers who are 
the society's first defence against crime and violence. These unsung heroes 
belong in the Christian category that believes that "no greater love hath any 
man than to lay down his life for a friend".

Another reason advanced for opposition to capital punishment is the possibility 
of jury error resulting in the conviction of an innocent person that 
constitutes a miscarriage of justice. Much public attention has been drawn to 
condemned prisoners who have been proved innocent by DNA evidence and therefore 
set free. The same DNA evidential technology could be applied proactively to 
determine the person's guilt or innocence, minimising jury error to an 
infinitesimal possibility.

Religious opposition is also based on the premise of jury error. The example of 
the adulterous woman, condemned to death by stoning who was justifiably 
forgiven by Jesus, omits the fact that she did not commit murder in which case 
had she done so, the outcome would have been different. Since time immemorial 
the death penalty has been part of Christian teaching and is stated in the 
Roman Catholic Catechism under Article 2266 as follows: "Legitimate public 
authority has the right and the duty to inflict punishment proportionate to the 
gravity of the offence". Roman Catholics should also refer to Articles 2260 and 
2267 in the new Catechism which received its Imprimatur from Joseph Cardinal 
Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, thus: "Assuming that the guilty party's 
identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional 
teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this 
is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the 
unjust aggressor".

While Jamaica has not executed any death-row inmates since the 1980s, this is 
not the case with our major trading partner to the north, the United States, 
whose lifestyle is closely emulated in Jamaica and is better deserving of 
attention by the EU's crusade. For example, the average time spent on death row 
before execution is 14 years! So much for the limit imposed by the Pratt and 
Morgan ruling! So far this year in America, 33 executions have been carried 
out. Last year, 46 inmates were put to death and 52 were executed in 2009 by 
lethal infection. The US Federal Supreme Court has ruled that lethal injection 
is not inhumane and should continue to be used for its intended purpose.

In November 2007 the United Nations voted on a non-binding resolution on a 
death penalty moratorium and ultimate abandonment that resulted in 99 votes in 
favour, 52 against with 33 abstentions and was rejected by Jamaica, a sovereign 
state whose domestic laws are determined by its Constitution and enforced by 
its government without any meddling by non-elected world organisations. Other 
Caribbean countries voted against, including China, Singapore and the United 
States. The US representative stated: "The US recognises that supporters of 
this resolution hold principled positions on the issue of the death penalty. 
Nonetheless, it is important to recognise that international law does not 
prohibit capital punishment." The US maintained that capital punishment is not 
a human rights issue but a matter of law enforcement.

With the continued expansion of Islam in the UK, now reported to be the second 
largest religion in the UK, there will come a time when Sharia Law becomes a 
significant factor in the dispensation of Islamic justice. The death penalty 
under Sharia Law and administered by various methods would become a salient 
practice for the UK and the EU to be reckoned with and even more so if Turkey, 
a Muslim nation of 77 million people, is admitted to the EU. The EU's crusade 
against the death penalty will encounter tough opposition that promises to be 
highly contentious.

In Jamaica, the EU's crusade is clearly a case of "duppy know who fi frighten"!

(source: Jamaica Observer)