Dear Editor,
Today, the 10th October is the 12th World Day against the Death Penalty. One hundred and forty countries have already abolished capital punishment in law or in practice. We are proud that Guyana has not carried out a judicial execution since 1997.
The right to life is the most fundamental right. All rights depend on life. The death penalty is the ultimate violation of the right to life. We cannot say that we respect life and yet say that it is right for us to kill. Murder is murder, even when carried out by the state.
We acknowledge that violent crime is a serious problem in Guyana. Last year 154 persons were murdered. Twenty-nine were women who were killed by their partners. Two were police officers – Lance Corporals Sherwin Pantliz and Michael Forde – who were gunned down. The death penalty did not save the lives of these 154 women and men. The death penalty is not an effective deterrent to violent crime. In the USA, for example, murder rates are consistently higher in states which have the death penalty than in states which do not. It is time we tried other strategies.
A strong deterrent against crime, including murder, is the knowledge that the criminal will be caught, prosecuted and sentenced. A significant number of Guyanese do not have confidence in the ability of the police force to bring killers to justice. We want the government to reform the criminal justice system immediately. We want police officers who are highly trained, well paid and committed to justice. We want a police force that we can be proud of. After all it is the people of Guyana who pay the salaries of the police force and who have to live with the consequences of police failures.
What contributes to violence? The Global study on homicide produced by the United Nations office on drugs and crime found that poor human and economic development fosters violent crime. They stated that “Improvements to social and economic conditions go hand in hand with the reduction of violent crime.” Guyana’s GDP may be growing but the wealth is not shared. A few are getting very rich. Meanwhile the mass of poor people struggle to live a decent life, to feed, clothe, house and educate themselves and their children. A society that wants to remove violent crime has to replace greed with social justice and equality.
Violence does not solve problems. Violence leads to more violence. The death penalty says that the state can kill citizens if a judge says so. In the flawed criminal justice system which exists in Guyana, there is a grave risk that the innocent could be executed. There is also a serious risk that a police officer will go a step further and execute a suspect rather than go through the uncertainty of the criminal justice system. Extra-judicial killings have no place in a civilised society.
The death penalty does not lead to peace. Without peace there is no justice. We want our mothers, sisters, wives and daughters to be safe from violence and fear. We want our fathers, brothers, husbands and sons to be equally safe from violence and fear. Removing the death penalty is only one step to a violence free society, but it is a necessary one.
Yours faithfully,
Melinda Janki,
Executive Director Justice
Institute Guyana;
Father Paul Martin SJ,
Regional Superior, Society
of Jesus in Guyana;
Father Malcolm Rodrigues SJ;
Father Marlon Innis SJ;
Father Godfrey
Veerasammy SJ;
Christopher Ram,
Chartered Accountant;
Attorney-at-Law;
Ralph Ramkarran SC,
Attorney-at-Law;
Josephine Whitehead,
Attorney-at-Law;
Rafiq T Khan,
Attorney-at-Law;
Nikhil Ramkarran,
Attorney-at-Law;
Kamal Ramkarran,
Attorney-at-Law;
Nadia Sagar, Attorney-at-Law;
Petal Baboolall,
for Help and Shelter;
Denise Dias, for
The Alecia Foundation/
Mothers in Black;
Joel Simpson, for
SASOD; Quincey McEwan,
for Guyana Trans United;
Salima Hinds; Vanda Radzik
