BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – SOME 13 days before the breaking of the New Year [2015], Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Kamla Persad-Bissessar had announced that her Government would again seek to reintroduce hanging in the twin-island Republic.
She claimed that the murder rate in that country was too high and she would ask Cabinet to reconsider the death penalty, even though in February 2011 the Hanging Bill was defeated 29 for and 11 against in Parliament.
Persad-Bissessar noted that the death penalty had proven to be a deterrent in the murder rate in many countries and she would again be seeking the Opposition.
“In other parts of the world, it has shown that there is a great deterrent effect. Research shows us empirical data that there is a reduction in murders once you have an effective death penalty. On the last occasion, the Opposition did not support us but I think they must also be concerned with the high level of murders, homi¬cides. But we seek their support again.”
Persad-Bissessar’s call was echoed by that country’s Attorney General Anand Ramlogan who, the Trinidad Express reported that at the Parliament sitting on Friday (Jan. 9), han¬ded Opposition Leader Dr. Keith Rowley a letter, requesting the PNM make proposals to ensure the Constitution (Amendment) (Capital Offences) Bill, 2015 is passed this year.
The media house noted that Ramlogan stated in his letter the intention of the bill is to allow the State to carry out the death sentence imposed by the courts on convicted murderers, regardless of how long they take to exhaust the various appellate procedures.
It also stated that the Attorney General pointed out that in 2011 when the bill was brought to Parlia¬ment, the Opposition supported the death penalty as the mandatory sentence for murder.
He further noted Opposition MP Marlene McDonald indicated the Opposition was in agreement that the death penalty is good law and had stated, “The position of the PNM is that we support the law of the land, and the law of the land is in Section IV of the Offences Against the Per¬son Act, which says, ‘Every person convicted of murder shall suffer death’.”
Ramlogan reminded that the Opposition voted against the Constitution (Amend¬ment) (Capital Offences) Bill, 2011 although the Government made a major concession by remo¬ving the categorisation of murders.
He referred to the situation in Jamaica, where the Opposition had joined hands with the Government in 2011 to pass similar legislation and amend its Constitution.
The Attorney General stated that Parliament had an inherent duty to ensure the rule of law was upheld and that laws are not passed in vain, adding that the death penalty was part of the laws of Trinidad and Tobago and Parliament had a duty to respond to the legal manoeuvres by convicted murders that frustrate and defeat the carrying out of a sentence of death imposed by a court after trial before a judge and jury.
“Save and except for the categorisation of murders (which we are prepared to remove), the Govern¬ment’s bill is similar to the Jamaican legislation,” Trinidad Express quoted him as saying.
At the time when this article was being written, statistics obtained from T&TCrime.com stated that there had been 403 murders in Trinidad and Tobago for 2014 and 14 for this year.
In St. Kitts and Nevis, there were 24 murders in 2014 and one for this year.
It has been said that most of those murders in 2014 and preceding years were gang-related, many of which are yet to be solved, and that the police are incapable of so doing.
However, how can the police solve most of these murders and other serious crimes when John Public turns a blind eye, deaf ears and closed mouth? Crime is everybody’s business and the police alone cannot solve them. Information is needed to firstly make an arrest and strong evidence, especially from eyewitnesses, must be had to warrant conviction.
Individuals who have information about these crimes would normally post comments on their Facebook page and other social media, but most of them would not utilise the available Crime Stoppers hotline which offers anonymity. Many of them would post subliminal messages but would also indicate that they would not go forward with information to the police. But the same individuals would cry out to the public to do that when the victims are related to them.
As it is said in war, always grant your enemy the same level of intelligence and even higher if victory is to be achieved. The same should be applied in the fight against crime, because there are some very intelligent criminals who keep abreast with whatever is being said in the media and they subsequently devise evasive strategies.
These criminals also realise that John Public does not disclose pertinent information to the police and they therefore get bolder in their activities as we have seen in the case of 19-year-old Kaheel Herbert who, on September 22, was shot multiple times while in the Accident and Emergency area of the JNF Hospital and later succumbed to his injuries; and also the December 30 shooting-death of Devon Ryan in the vicinity of the Ferry Terminal.
Following the shooting-death of Devon ‘Kobe’ Griffin on Jan 9 this year, the officer in charge of the Nevis Division of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force, Assistant Commissioner Robert Liburd, had voiced his disgust with the manner in which people settle their differences and blames members of the Nevis community for withholding information.
“I am disgusted in the way people are going about shooting and killing each other over matters that can be amicably resolved through other means. No one gives life and no one should take life! Most crimes are witnessed by a member or members of a community, but they prefer to remain silent instead of providing information to the police in order for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.”
He said criminals would become bolder in their unlawful activities when people turn their backs on such matters and do not provide information to the police, proclaiming that some members of the society are “quick to quote the number of unsolved crimes” but are unwilling to render assistance.
“I am therefore calling on the good citizens on Nevis to assist the police by providing information whenever they would have witnessed a crime. I know that some of them are unwilling to do so for fear of their lives, but if they are scared of bring such information to any of the police stations, they can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-8477 (TIPS). They may also be eligible for a reward,” he added.
Hanging has not been banned in St. Kitts and Nevis. The last person hanged in this Federation was Charles Elroy Laplace on December 18, 2008 and it was condemned by Amnesty International, calling it a “shameless act”.
The human rights organisation said: “Amnesty International considers the execution of Charles Elroy Laplace carried out in St. Kitts and Nevis on Friday 19th December as a shameless human rights development for the country after 10 years of moratorium.
“The world is turning away from the use of death penalty. Before last Friday’s execution, since 2003, the United States has been the only country in the Americas to carry out executions, even in the USA there has been a dramatic decrease in the number of executions in recent years. One hundred and thirty seven countries have now abolished the death penalty in law or practice and only 24 nations carried out executions in 2007. Huge swathes of the world are now free from executions.”
The organisation claims to comprehend “concerns about the upsurge of crime and murders in the country” but maintained that the death penalty “as well as constituting cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment” are ineffective in the fight against crime.
“Given the unlikelihood of ever being brought before the courts, it is quite implausible that before committing a crime a criminal would consider the risk of being hung and would refrain from wrong-doing. The death penalty also runs the risk of irrevocable error,” Amnesty International concluded.
However, while it is a fact that some individuals charged with the capital offence and sentenced to death were innocent, has Amnesty International ever took into consideration the loss of a victim’s life and the effects it has on family members, especially children of whom the murdered person was the only provider?
As said by Persad-Bissessar, the murder rate in her country is too high, and so is it in St. Kitts and Nevis. Therefore, her aim is to reintroduce the death penalty which might prove to be a deterrent in the murder rate.
It is believed in some quarters that if an individual is proven beyond all doubts to have committed the capital offence and sentenced to death, he or she should be hanged in the earliest possible time, which would send a very strong message to would-be killers that they would pay the ultimate price for their action.
Do you agree that this action should take place in the twin-island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis in an effort to save lives?
