The Greater Caribbean for Life (GCL) urges the Government of the Bahamas to find non-lethal means to promote the safety and security of citizens. GCL condemns the rise of violent crime in our region and expresses solidarity with victims. However, we reject the notion that capital punishment will act as a deterrent or foster respect for life in our communities.
GCL is committed to promoting peace, respect for life, and good neighbourliness as appropriate methods of reducing crime in the Greater Caribbean region. This provides a more durable and effective solution than the taking of life.
We urge that recommendations, such as those made in the UNDP’s Caribbean Human Development Report 2012:Human Development and the Shift to Better Citizen Security, be adopted. For example, the report states that Caribbean governments can reverse the trend of high murder rates. It calls for regional governments “to beef up public institutions to tackle crime and violence – including the criminal justice system-while boosting preventive measures.” It recommends that we should develop a better balance between law enforcement and preventive measures.
It is essential that Governments in our region develop an holistic approach to the crime situation. Such an approach requires us to address risk factors that may contribute to crime, for example, poverty, urban decay and social exclusion/inequalities/inequities, family disintegration, lack of quality education and employment, poor housing, mental illness, the proliferation of guns, drug/substance abuse, gang violence, lack of respect for authority and the rule of law.
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Policies and programmes should consider ways of promoting, for example, effective parenting, quality education system, 21stCentury policing, prison reform, and a decent standard of living for all. The low rate of detection and arrests; lengthy delays in the administration of justice; lack of personnel such as probation officers, social workers; inadequate rehabilitation programmes for offenders etc. all contribute to state in which we find ourselves.
Rather than focusing our efforts on capital punishment, let us invest in more effective solutions that would prevent/curb crime in the long term and that would address the needs of victims within a Restorative Justice approach to the criminal justice system. Let’s stop crime, not lives!
GCL was constituted on October 2, 2013 with the purpose of campaigning for and working towards the permanent abolition of the death penalty in the Greater Caribbean and supporting Caribbean abolitionist activists and organizations in this region. GCL is concerned to promote the dignity of each person and respect for all life. The Executive Committee of GCL comprises representatives from Dominica, Guatemala, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, St Vincent & the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.
For further information, contact Leela Ramdeen, Chair, GCL on 1 868 299 8945 or via E-mail: gcl.dpx@gmail.com
