Transparency on death penalty

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I am writing with reference to the article, ‘Election watch’, published in The Gleaner on January 1. I want to wish the two leaders of the main political parties and the citizens of Jamaica a happy 2025.

I pray that there will be more tranquillity in 2025 than 2024 and harmony between the two major parties. I want the best-qualified candidate with the experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities to win the 2025 general election.

Like most people, it is my desire that someday Jamaica will become a republic.

However, the first priority is that we will have a Constitution that is complete, and one that is intended to provide justice for its citizens. We have made some improvement with the constitutional amendments, but much more work is left to be done.

We cannot still retain many of the savings law clauses and consider the Constitution complete.

For example, the Government has the death penalty on hold, keep prisoners on death row indefinitely, and execute (hang) them when they want. The Government can also reinstate the death penalty after they achieve the republican status if they want. That is what Chapter 13: 8 (a) means, and it violates one of the basic human rights of the Constitution, the right to humane treatment by public authorities.

Chapter 13: 8 (a), in some ways, is exactly like the case of Pratt and Morgan vs Attorney-General of Jamaica, et al. The Privy Council could not invalidate mandatory death penalty because it was a savings law clause, which is immune from legal challenge. However, the Privy Council could, and did, restrict how it was used; in other words, the application.

Credit is due to the Caribbean Court of Justice. Recently, the court ruled that the death penalty in Barbados, which was in their constitution, is unconstitutional.

Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) has the death penalty, and it is the only country in the Americas to have mandatory death penalty for murder; T&T retains the savings law clause for the death penalty. Trinidad and Tobago’s final court of appeal is the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

It is important that the Jamaican Government is transparent and communicate with the majority of the people who will vote for the proposed constitutional amendments.

Finally, the Government needs to provide the citizens with more details about the questions that will be on the ballots, and the voters with more details of what the constitutional amendments entail.

CARGILL KELLY