St Rose opposes hanging, corporal punishment in schools

Verna St Rose-Greaves believes hanging convicted murderers has no place in a civilised society.

And the Prime Minister's Special Adviser on Children's Affairs is making her voice heard on the matter. She told the Trinidad Express, "I am not going to change my opinion on this. Nor am I prepared to be silent on it."

She also opposes corporal punishment of children in schools, which Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar banned several years ago when she served as education minister.

St Rose-Greaves added, "We cannot say that we are moving forward as a nation but then we go back to barbaric practices like hangings and beating children in schools. Then, in fact, we are regressing."

Works Minister Jack Warner recently suggested that hanging criminals would help reduce crime and Attorney General Anand Ramlogan is on record as saying that hanging would resume.

Their cabinet colleague, Subhas Panday, Minister in the Ministry of National Security, has said officials are conducting a head count of the people on death row.

St Rose-Greaves told the paper execution of convicted people is a complex issue that has always been at the forefront during her years as a social and women's activist. She believes the issue presents an opportunity for dialogue within the People's Partnership.

"I understand the pain of victims and their families, I do, and the anger from that is what is fuelling this bloodlust, but the death penalty is not a solution," she insisted in her interview with the paper.

"We continue to build prisons without trying to understand or acknowledge where the people who go in them are coming from," she said.

She added, "I very recently encountered a family with four generations of illiteracy in this modern time. What does that say? You see where our problems are coming from?"

She raised the issue about the judicial system which can make errors. "Our system is not even up to modern standards, we do have the tools to gather and sort evidence.

We hear about prisoners in other countries coming out of Death Row after decades because new evidence and analysis such as DNA sampling have shown them to be innocent," she noted.

"So what could happen here in Trinidad and Tobago, where we don't have these things? I feel that in this country, if you have enough money, you commit murder or hire someone to commit murder and get away with it. How many innocent people could we end up hanging?"

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St Rose-Greaves said the death penalty should not be reintroduced under a woman's leadership.

"If we say we are doing things differently, then we can't go that way...I am also appealing to women of this country not to allow this to happen. When I go to the courts, many people are fond of saying 'spare the rod and spoil the child...

"You cannot hand over that kind of power to a teacher or any adult in charge of a child," she declared.

St Rose-Greaves told the paper the only reason she entered politics is "because of Kamla Persad-Bissessar and I am ready to work with her." She said he has a lot of respect for Persad-Bissessar for banning corporal punishment in schools during her tenture as education Minister in the Panday UNC government.

She added, "Even as a parent it's not in our culture to come out and say you don't support beating your children."

She said, "We don't care about children, I don't care what anybody says, we don't. They are not recognised as members of society and that is why we do whatever we want to them and take their bodies and do whatever we want.

"But I am not prepared to give advice that is not going to be taken. I don't have that time," she declared.