Headlines:
| Parliamentarians headed to conscience vote |
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| Tuesday, 18 November 2008 | |
 Parliamentarians Tuesday turned their attention to the State
of the Justice System as they continued the highly charged debate in Gordon
House on the death penalty. With the House debating one of the most controversial matters in the country, Jamaicans have been eagerly anticipating the conscience vote on the retention of capital punishment, which is scheduled to follow the debate. Amid rapturous desks stomping, Members of Parliament on both sides of the Chamber offered vigorous and sober presentations with indications as to how they will be casting their conscience vote. Speaker after speaker in Tuesday's debate pointed to barbaric crimes being perpetrated against innocent victims stating that members of the society are anxiously waiting for the available legal remedies to be enforced. Member of Parliament for South East St Andrew, Maxine Henry-Wilson says the society has demonstrated a lack of confidence in the capacity of the country's judicial system as well as the investigative prowess of the Police Force.  She says ruthless criminals who perpetrate acts of violence are not being captured and brought to justice and offered statistic to prove her point. "Zero per cent of drug related murders have been cleared up, that's what the statistics show in 2005, zero per cent was cleared and only 27.2 per cent of gang related crimes was cleared up, there were no arrest and there were no convictions. This is saying that some of those who have committed some of the most dastardly crimes are still out there running up and out, so before you can hang them you have catch them," she said. South East Manchester representative Audley Shaw echoed sentiments that adequate resources are necessary to improve the judicial system to swiftly apprehend, try and sentence those suspects who have committed violent crimes. Central Kingston MP Ronnie Thwaites said the path was uncertain even if parliamentarians vote to retain the death penalty. In the meantime, Public Defender Earl Witter has joined those standing against the retention of the death penalty as punishment for capital murder. Speaking on RJR's Hotline Tuesday, Mr. Witter said though he sympathises with the prevailing view that those who take life should lose theirs, he cannot support the position. He argued that more time needs to be expended on improving the justice system. "Not until our ingenuity allows us to design and to put in place a legal system of such perfection that the guilty only condemn and no innocent man convicted. As things stand we incur the ghastly risk of convicting and executing the innocent," Mr. Witter said. And 14 Bishops of the Anglican Church in the West Indies, meeting in the House of Bishops and Provincial Standing Committee in the Bahamas last week registered their opposition to the death penalty. The bishops called for the intervention of governments and the co-operation of the Church as part of civil society, to deal with the upsurge of crime and violence in the region. The West Indian Bishops said they are of one mind in calling people to stand with them in opposing the death penalty. The Bishops said they have resolved to pursue a path of encouraging the Governments of the Region to seek through legislation and policies, the reduction of significant inequalities in the region. The bishops insist this is necessary in the fight against crime and violence. |