Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding told a town hall meeting in Kingston his government will honour the “yes” vote taken by Parliament last year on capital punishment and hang convicted killers.“Once Parliament has taken that position, this government has given a commitment that we are going to honour it. We are obliged by the resolution of Parliament,” he said.
"You have an undertaking from me, as head of this government, that once those processes are exhausted, then the appropriate warrants will be issued. We are not backing off of that position that we have taken,” Golding said in reference to nine convicted persons whose appeals are pending.
He noted that the biggest weapon against crime is the certainty of being caught and being punished, and he urged the public to provide the police with information to resolve the crimes.
“If a man feels that he can commit murder and the chances of him being arrested are three out ten, and even after he is arrested, the chances of anybody coming as a witness to testify against him are two out of ten, and if they even testify, the chances of him being convicted is one of out ten, then he is not even going to squint, he is going to commit the crime,” the Prime Minister said.
“We have to get to the stage where with the partnership that must come from the people, when a man is considering doing something that he knows is against the law, something that he knows will attract severe punishment, he must be given cause to think that once, not twice, not thrice but several times; because in committing that crime, he must factor into his mind an acceptance of the punishment that he must feel is going to be served on him,” he added.
The Jamaican House of Representatives voted last November to retain hanging; the Senate voted similarly a month later. However, no one has been executed in Jamaica since 1988.
Last year more than 1,000 persons were murdered and the figure has passed 600 so far this year.
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