OPPOSITION SENATOR Oswald Harding has tabled a resolution in the Senate seeking the eventual abolition of the death penalty as punishment for murder.
This comes almost 21 years after Parliament first debated the question in January 1979 and nearly 12 years since any convicted murderer has been hanged in Jamaica.
There were in fact two debates in Parliament in 1979. The House of Representatives made history in allowing for the first and only time a vote of conscience on the issue; members were free to vote as they felt without the constraint of the party "whip".
In the result the House decided in favour of retaining capital punishment by a vote of 24 to 19. Twelve Government members, including seven Ministers, "crossed the floor" to vote with seven Opposition members against the death penalty.
Of those voting in favour, three are still MPs Seymour Mullings, Terry Gillette, and Derrick Rochester. Among those against were P.J. Patterson and Howard Cooke, now Prime Minister and Governor-General, respectively.
The Senate subsequently voted 10 to 5 to suspend the penalty for 18 months pending study of its effects on society. Senator Harding voted for the suspension as did Bruce Golding.
After more than two decades Senator Harding's motion is timely. For it comes against the background of a murder rate which is at the apex of an alarming level of violent crime in this country; on top of which the convoluted manipulation of the legal processes has stymied implementation of the penalty for capital murder since 1988.
The motivation to support the United Nation's efforts to abolish the death penalty may be laudable in theory. But we are mindful of public sentiment which ought to be reflected in the Parliament buttressed by a national referendum.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner.
