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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, November 30, 2015
Formalise moratorium on death penalty THE European Union (EU) has called on Caribbean countries which have retained the death penalty to formalise their unofficial moratorium on the punishment. The EU made the recommendation at the recently concluded Caribbean Regional Conference on Abolition of the Death Penalty held at the Arthur Chung International Conference Centre. The conference hosted in collaboration with the International Commission against the Death Penalty, also recommended that countries that still have capital punishment respect international and regional human rights law and standards relating to the death penalty; continued engagement with governments in the Caribbean Region as they take steps towards eventual abolition of the death penalty; the strengthening of justice system structures, including ensuring that it is sufficiently resourced, that it has the capacity of effectively investigate crimes, ensuring that victims are supported, ensur-
ing adequate legal assistance to vulnerable sections of society; and advance human rights education as part of the curriculum for citizenship studies. The conference concluded that there have been and always will be cases of executions of innocent people. “No matter how developed a justice system is, it will always remain susceptible to human failure. Unlike prison sentences, the death penalty is irreversible and irreparable. “The death penalty is often used in a disproportional manner against the poor, minorities and members of racial, ethnic, political and religious groups. “The death penalty violates the right to life, which happens to be the most basic of all human rights. It also violates the right not to be subjected to torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment. Furthermore, the death penalty undermines human dignity, which is inherent to every human being,” the EU said in
a statement that includes the recommendation and conclusions of the recently held forum. LACKS DETERRENT EFFECT It added that the death penalty lacks the deterrent effect, which is commonly referred to by its advocates. The General Assembly of the United Nations had recently stated: “There is no conclusive evidence of the deterrent value of the death penalty” (UNGA Resolution 65/206). “It is noteworthy that in many retentionist states, the effectiveness of the death penalty in order to prevent crime is being seriously questioned by a continuously increasing number of law enforcement professionals. “Public support for the death penalty does not necessarily mean that taking away the life of a human being by the state is right. There are undisputed historical precedents where gross human rights violations had had the support of a majority of the
people, but which were condemned vigorously later on,” the EU said. The EU also said that it is the job of leading figures and politicians to underline the incompatibility of capital punishment with human rights and human dignity. “It needs to be pointed out that public support for the death penalty is inextricably linked to the desire of the people to be free from crime. However, there exist more effective ways to prevent crime,” the European governing body noted. The conference was funded by the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights and the British High Commission in Guyana. Twenty-five participants came from Europe and the Caribbean Region, as well as numerous participants from
Guyana. The European External Action Service, the International Commission against the Death Penalty, the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Abolition of the Death Penalty, the World Coalition against the Death Penalty, Greater Caribbean for Life, Parliamentarians for Global Action, Guyana Human Rights Association, Justice Institute Guyana, Human Rights Commission Belize, National Human Rights Defence Network Haiti, and the Ministry of Legal Affairs of Guyana also participated at the conference. CITIES FOR LIFE DAY Meanwhile, today is Cities for Life Day when cities around the world celebrate the abolition of the death penalty. On this day in 1786, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany became the first civil state in the world to get rid of capital punishment. Over 414,000,000 South Americans can join in today’s celebrations. Each and every one of them lives in a country
that has abolished the death penalty, the Justice Institute Guyana said, but noted that Guyana still retains the death penalty. “The Justice Institute Guyana calls upon the Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana to begin immediately a national inquiry into the causes and factors which contribute to murder in Guyana. The Justice Institute notes that the Guyanese people did not choose to have the death penalty. It is the result of colonialism. On 26th May 2016, Guyana will celebrate 50 years as an independent state. The Justice Institute Guyana calls on the Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana to begin an immediate public education campaign with a view to abolishing the death penalty no later than midnight on the 25th May 2016. This great Golden Jubilee of Independence should not be tainted by such a barbaric remnant of colonialism as the death penalty,” the institute said in a release.
Group petitions gov’t for extension of Walter Rodney CoI THE Justice for Walter Rodney Campaign presented a 1,000+ signature petition to Governance Minister Raphael Trotman on Thursday, calling for the inquiry to be extended to facilitate a more comprehensive closure. The Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry (WRCoI) Report is scheduled for submission by 30th November. The campaign, spearheaded by Guyanese in London, requested Karen de Souza to hand over the petition on its behalf, a release from the campaign said. On November 13, the petition was handed over to officials at the Guyana Embassy in Washington DC., and at the Guyana High Commission in Jamaica. Petitioners are demanding that President David Granger allow the WRCoI the two additional weeks it requested to properly complete its work. The administration is reportedly refusing the request for a mere two additional weeks after 34 years of evasion by succes-
sive governments. The alleged 1980 assassination of Guyana’s pre-eminent historian, scholar-activist, and author of ‘How Europe Underdeveloped Africa’ remains Guyana’s most traumatising political incident. A proper investigation was at various times avoided, and was allegedly frustrated by the PNC under Forbes Burnham, and then by the PPP/C under four Presidents, including Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo, who was President for 12 years. The WRCoI formally commenced under President Donald Ramotar in 2014. The refusal by the Granger-led coalition government to allow the commission to complete its work now threatens to undo more than one year’s work, and to deny Guyanese the opportunity to finally establish the truth of the death of one of Guyana’s greatest sons. The APNU+AFC coalition came to power in May 2015 with a narrow cross-racial win over the discredited PPP government,
Dr Walter Rodney
the campaign has said. It has promised national reconciliation; yet, within days of its win and amidst some admittedly unsavoury revelations about certain financial transactions, the administration began to undermine and discredit the WRCoI without proposing a better alternative. According to the campaign, Dr Rodney’s renowned legacy in Guyana endured sufficiently to curb racial voting for the first time in Guyana’s 50-year
post-colonial history, thus enabling Granger’s win. “Rodney’s political teaching had exposed the exploitative nature of Guyana’s historic ethnic Indian/ African conflicts, which stymied its post-colonial development,” the campaign said; but Dr Rodney was allegedly seen as a direct threat to Forbes Burnham’s power and the politics of party paramountcy. The campaign has said that “a new dispensation for the WRCoI could resolve previous abuses which were not of the commission’s making. However, new ministers -- Attorney General Basil Williams, who represented the PNC at the WRCoI, and Governance Minister Raphael Trotman -- simply asserted that the two-week extension was disallowed to save taxpayers’ money and, more ominously, ‘further embarrassment’.” “As November 30 approaches”, the campaign says, “we urge Guyana’s government to announce a reversal of its short-sighted decision
that has brought a premature end to the WRCOI. This plea is in keeping with what has been called for by all three commissioners; the lawyers representing Rodney’s party, the much depleted Working People’s Alliance, now part of APNU; Rodney’s brother Donald, in whose car the fatal
bomb was detonated; and the rest of Rodney’s family.” The body stressed that Guyana needs, and deserves, a proper inquiry in which all key witnesses give evidence under oath. “Only then can our country begin the journey of healing and reconciliation,” it posits.