THE EDITOR, Sir:
WE JOIN Peter Espeut in applauding outgoing Governor of Illinois, George Ryan, on his courageous and principled stand in commuting more than 160 death sentences in his state due to serious flaws in the criminal justice system (The machinery of death, January 15, 2003).
As Mr Espeut noted, George Ryan spoke powerfully about how he had agonised over his decision, conscious of the feelings of those who had lost loved ones to murder and who believed that execution would bring a sense of "closure".
But Governor Ryan asked, "What kind of victims services are we providing? Are all of our resources geared toward providing this notion of closure by execution instead of tending to the physical and social service needs of victim families? And what kind of values are we instilling in these wounded families and in the young people? As Gandhi said, an eye for an eye only leaves the whole world blind". For his actions George Ryan has been vilified by some. By others he is considered a hero, who should receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
Cynics may say he was not standing for re-election so had nothing politically to lose. We believe he was simply doing what was right. We welcome his act of justice and humanity, and are certain history will judge him kindly.
As the debate on the use of hanging in the Caribbean rages on, the political leaders advocating state-killing should ask themselves if the judicial systems of the region possess the safeguards required for the irreversible act of taking a human life. Of course, they will reassure that the police and courts are adequate to the task. While there are excellent jurists in the Caribbean, any simple examination of the system will reveal endless delays, confessions used in court that were extracted via torture, a lack of skill and resources in the area of forensic science, inadequate provision of defence lawyers and so on. The system is every bit as bad as that in Illinois, if not worse.
It is time for the political leaders of the Caribbean to stop manipulating the understandable anger caused by violent crime. The death penalty is not the answer and will not reduce the murder rate. The governments of the region should follow the brave and principled example of their counterparts in Kenya, Chile, Russia, South Africa and many other nations.
The political leaders of these countries have (or have announced their intention to) abolished capital punishment. For as Dr Martin Luther King Jr. noted "Cowardice asks the question, "Is it safe?". Expediency asks the question, "Is it politic?". Vanity asks the question, "Is it popular?". But, conscience asks the question, "Is it right?".
And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because one's conscience tells one that it is right."
I am etc.,
SHELAGH SIMMONS
Co-ordinator
Caribbean Justice
simmons@carib-justice.free-
serve.co.uk
Via Go-Jamaica
