THE AMERICAS: Caribbean killers face quicker death By Canute James
Confronted by an increase in violent crime, and under pressure by their constituents to take definitive action, several Caribbean governments are changing their constitutions to expedite the execution of convicted murderers.
The move is intended to get around what some administrations consider to be barriers to capital punishment imposed by the UK Privy Council, the highest court for most of the English-speaking countries in the region.
The Caribbean Community (Caricom), which is working toward a regional common market, is also creating its own final appellate court to replace the Privy Council, but officials reject claims that it is intended to make easier the execution of convicted murders. They contend that the court is an integral part of the common market, needed to determine expected trade disputes.
"The meanderings of the UK Privy Council have been a cause for concern in the region for a long time," says Kenny Anthony, prime minister of St Lucia. "However, the Caribbean Court of Justice is not being established to deal with capital punishment, but it is a move by the region to repatriate its sovereignty. We cannot continue to allow UK taxpayers to finance our final court."
Jamaica, which has a population of 2.5m, had more than 1,000 murders last year. There are 52 people on death row, and the last execution was in 1988. Trinidad, with 100 on death row, had its last hangings in 1999.
Barbados has changed its constitution to allow convicts to be hanged as soon as possible after their appeals are exhausted, and Belize plans to amend its constitution to abolish murder appeals to the Privy Council. This is aimed at countering a 1993 Privy Council ruling limiting to five years the time that a convict should be kept on death row.
"Changing their constitutions is a trend that will be followed by other governments in the region under pressure to do something about violent crime and an increasing murder rate," said a leading Trinidadian legal expert. "The governments claim there is widespread public support for capital punishment, but there is opposition within and outside the region."
Mia Mottley, Barbados' attorney-general, argues that governments are obliged to protect citizens. "A government should not appear to be powerless in the face of problems. The culture and character of Caribbean societies suggest that if one takes another's life, then they should be prepared to lose their own."
The moves to speed capital punishment have been attacked by human rights lobbies. Ms Mottley says the amendment will prevent these human rights groups "over which the country has no control" from "holding the country to ransom".