TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Crime Wave Brings Execution Debate

ADVERTISEMENT

The Associated Press

Published: November 12, 2008

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Jamaican pastor Terrence Brown wants killers put to death - he's even offered to trade his collar for a hangman's hood to confront a crime wave that has been terrorizing his parishioners.

"If the government doesn't carry out their responsibility, you're going to have jungle justice, and that is what is growing rapidly in Jamaica and across the Caribbean," said Brown, a preacher with the evangelical Holiness Christian Church in Jamaica's Spanish Town.

Soaring crime has islanders demanding more executions, exhorting politicians to work around restrictions imposed by Europe and overwhelming international opposition that have all but ended capital punishment in the Caribbean.

In Jamaica, the beheading of a young girl and the discovery of an 11-year-old boy's dismembered body in a trash bag have increased pressure on parliament, where debate began Tuesday on whether to resume executions after 20 years.

Advocates include Prime Minister Bruce Golding. He declined to say Tuesday how he would vote.

"I believe I must be careful not to influence people," Golding said, as he urged legislators to follow their conscience. "In whatever directions those views point, we should proceed to act accordingly. ... It's important for us to resolve this issue."

Opponents say governments should focus on reducing poverty and corruption.

"Instead of trying to solve the crime problem, we wave the study of the death penalty as a flag but there won't be any kind of change," said Jamaica's Amnesty International coordinator, Maria Carla Gullotta.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT