The human rights organization Greater Caribbean for Life (GCL) noted something so simple in commemorating the 13th World Day Against the Death Penalty: The death penalty won't help build safe communities. In a press release the organization said it is striving "to encourage retentionist countries in the Greater Caribbean region to adopt non-lethal means of dealing with crime and violence". The World Day Against the Death Penalty was observed on October 10.
The last execution in The Bahamas - that of David Mitchell - took place in 2000. Ever since the calls for hangings have gotten louder and louder due to the conditions in our communities. There have been 119 murders in The Bahamas this year - most of which have occurred on the island of New Providence.
Based on current trends we will far exceed the record total of 127 murders in 2011. Bahamians are frustrated with the levels of crime and violence in our country. This frustration and anger has led many to seek a panacea.
The Nassau Guardian has been on the record in its opposition to the death penalty. Too much killing happens in The Bahamas already. Executions will not stop our crime problem.
We must focus on finding ways to get our young people engaged with the world of achievement and peaceful conflict resolution from childhood to adulthood. We should focus on reforming our criminal justice system to ensure that people who commit crimes are effectively prosecuted in a timely manner and incarcerated for appropriate terms. We must work to increase our economic growth rate so that there are more jobs and opportunities to keep people engaged in productive activity.
Our focus has shifted too much toward vengeance. We want blood for blood. Executions are irreversible and exonerations are common in criminal cases.
People we call guilty the day the jury brings back a verdict often are set free years later by appellate courts. A life sentence is no more lenient than an execution. Yet, it provides a glimpse of opportunity for an innocent man to clear his name. Last month, Pope Francis used his address before Congress in the United States to further his advocacy for an end to the death penalty globally.
"I am convinced that this way is the best, since every life is sacred, every human person is endowed with an inalienable dignity, and society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes," he said.
Rulings by the Privy Council, our highest court, over the years have made the death penalty all but abolished in The Bahamas. There is only one person on death row and judges essentially do not sentence people to death anymore. We should remove the death penalty from our laws. We should also remove it from our minds and discourse.
Our focus should be on building up our people. If we get better at this there will be fewer murders, shootings and robberies. The era of the death penalty is over. None of us should miss it.
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