Dear Editor,
Now that the new Government is in place, with an efficient Attorney General, it is widely believed that the Constitutional Reform Commission would begin to do real work. Those who have been clamouring for Constitutional Reform will get the opportunity to put forward their proposals and have them seriously considered.
So far, almost all the calls for Constitutional Reform have been woefully short of specifics, so I am proposing a concrete issue that needs to be considered: Capital Punishment. It is a contentious matter, the debate has raged here before; it is not an issue restricted to Guyana, but one that has been vigorously contested abroad. Therefore, much information and statistics are available to help authorities to come to some conclusion, and provide enough information for serious debate.
I believe that the time has come in Guyana when Capital Punishment should be abolished. I appreciate the fact that, for the families of victims, this is a sore issue; the deep feelings are understandable when the hurt of losing a loved one by such deliberate actions of another person occur.
For some, the immediate response is to ‘do them back’. A lot of people feel that a murderer has given up his/her own right to life when such a crime is committed. They feel that the death penalty would deter and reduce the incidents of murder.
However, looked at from a wider angle and from less emotional circumstances, I think that one of the important tasks we have as a nation is to further humanise our own society. While it is true that many factors need to come together to accomplish that task, I am convinced that removing the death penalty is an important step on that road.
Furthermore, the evidence internationally has shown conclusively that Capital Punishment does not slow down or stop murders from occurring. This is an important fact that is often not given the consideration it deserves; it is sometimes even ignored.
Extensive research has been done in many countries of the world, including in Europe and North America. Much work on the issue was also done by the UN as well. All of those studies have concluded that the Death Penalty is not a deterrent for capital crimes.
Indeed, in many cases, it has been observed that in countries and states in Europe and the US where the death penalty was abolished, the murder rate was lower than those countries/states in which it was retained. it is almost the norm. At a minimum, abolition does not lead to increase in murders.
There is also a moral argument that should be considered. If we conclude that taking another person’s life is wrong, then, by extension, we can say that the state taking lives of people cannot therefore be right. With the best will in the world, mistakes would be made and innocent people would be executed. This is not a rare occurrence. We have seen the frequency with which innocent persons were executed in various parts of the world. The US, which is a very open society, shows this with alarming regularity. The situation is pervasive enough for some politicians and political commentators to conclude there is more than an element of racism in this, since the majority of those who have been innocently executed and incarcerated were African- Americans and other minorities; for example, Latinos.
A lot of this is the result of poverty. Because the families of those accused of murder are often unable to afford the best lawyers to give the accused the best representation, the accused persons are very often poorly represented in court. That leads to them being found guilty, when in fact many were innocent. Even now, many innocent people are in jail and on death row.
This leads me to the other general point that should be seriously considered and lead us to abolish Capital Punishment; that is, the social composition of those who have been executed.
Almost 100% came from the poor and the working poor. These are persons who faced unbelievably difficult circumstances and challenges every day. These are persons who literally live almost in a pressure cooker. Those circumstances are responsible for crimes and the creation of criminals.
On the other hand, perpetrators of other types of crime, who continuously kill people daily and silently, get away scot free with their deeds. These are the corrupt bureaucrats, or some corrupt business people who make millions and billions of dollars by all kinds of crimes. Such actions help to perpetuate poverty, deprive children of proper foods, induce malnutrition, and retard intellectual development.
In almost all these cases, these people walk free. According to the Mighty Sparrow, these criminals are ‘high in society’, and are the ‘good citizens’ of the world.
In this regard, another dangerous trend has arisen in politics generally. Many politicians like to create the impression that they are tough. We all watch American television and see how Democrats and Republicans are vying to create the impression of being tough. Tough on Crime, tough on Russia, tough on China, tough on Cuba, tough on Iran, tough on Venezuela, etc. the talk of being tough has become a big seller for many politicians.
This is not confined to the US. Globalisation is not just about economics, but also about ideas. Because the US have the biggest economy and an unbelievably powerful mass media, their ideas, good and bad, are widely disseminated through the world, and have great influence.
Many of the political tactics used in the US are often adopted outside. So, we will hear the same talk of being tough repeated from the north to the south. And using the death penalty is one of the easiest ways to project the image of ‘toughness’.
Therefore, to portray such an image, some persons could face the gallows, some could be innocent. In my view, if one such person is wrongly murdered, because that’s what it is, then we should stop this practice throughout the world. One innocent person being sent to his/her death is far too many.
My own position should be clear by now: I stand for those forms of punishment that would discourage crimes, and deter capital crimes in particular. However, we must be humane; we must demonstrate to our people humaneness. Setting the correct example is important in moulding a free and democratic country.
We must oppose the death penalty completely! This is for the sake of our nation as a whole.
Donald Ramotar
Former President
