In New York, on Friday 21st November, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) will cast an initial vote, in Committee, on a draft resolution calling for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.
The Greater Caribbean for Life, an organisation that is working towards the abolition of the death penalty, urges all Caribbean Nations to use this opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to Human Rights and the fundamental Right to Life by supporting this resolution.
It has long been recognized that the death penalty is a human rights issue, and is the ultimate cruel and inhuman punishment. Yet, thousands of people are still put to death across the globe every year, often after unfair trials or in violation of the minimum safeguards all States agreed to observe to protect their rights.
If the draft resolution is passed by this vote, it will go before the UNGA’s plenary session in December for a final vote. All four previous resolutions have passed with overwhelming majorities – and the number of countries voting in favour has increased each time. In 2012, 111 UN member states voted in favour, 41 against and 34 abstained.
This increasing support reflects the fact that more and more countries around the world are realising that there are simply no good arguments for keeping the death penalty on the books. In 1945, when the UN was created, only eight countries had removed capital punishment for all crimes from their legislation. Today, 137 out of 193 UN Member States are abolitionist in law or practice. Last year, only 20 Member States carried out death sentences.
Leela Ramdeen, Chair of the Greater Caribbean for Life says: “When the great majority of countries which have chosen to move away from capital punishment are supporting the resolution, why are we still failing to find non-lethal means to protect society from offenders?”
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It is easy to think of the death penalty as a quick-fix solution to tackling crime, in particular in countries facing high rates of violent crime. But there is, in fact, no evidence that the death penalty acts as a particular deterrent to crime – something confirmed in multiple studies across many different regions. There is no doubt that the rights of the victims of crime should be protected and justice must be served. But opposing the death penalty does not mean being soft on crime, it simply means focusing our response on tackling the root causes of crime and working on what will really make our societies safer, while promoting a culture of rights for all. Rather than tackling crime, the death penalty only adds to a cycle of violence.
The Greater Caribbean for Life calls on our Caribbean governments to make the right choice for human rights and support the UN Moratorium on the use of the death penalty.
We also invite our Governments to work with the Greater Caribbean for Life and all of civil society to Stop Crime, not Lives!
Greater Caribbean for Life (GCL) is a non-sectarian, regional civil society organization that is striving to encourage retentionist countries in the Caribbean region to adopt non-lethal means of dealing with crime and violence. GCL was constituted on October 2, 2013, in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, by abolitionist activists and organizations from twelve nations of the Greater Caribbean.
www.gcforlife.org – facebook.com/GCFLife – contact@gcforlife.org
