Pope Francis sent a video message to participants at the 6th World Congress Against the Death Penalty in Oslo, Norway, (June 21-23). Over the past few years, he has repeatedly spoken out against the death penalty. In his message, he said that capital punishment “contradicts God’s plan for individuals and society, and his merciful justice”. He called for a world “free of the death penalty.”
“Indeed, nowadays the death penalty is unacceptable, however grave the crime of the convicted person. It is an offence to the inviolability of life and to the dignity of the human person….it is not consonant with any purpose of punishment. It does not render justice to victims, but instead fosters vengeance…The commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’ applies both to the innocent and to the guilty…the Jubilee of Mercy is an occasion for promoting more evolved forms of respect for the life of each person…There is no fitting punishment without hope! Punishment for its own sake, without room for hope, is a form of torture, not punishment.”
You will recall that this year he asked Catholic government leaders to “make a courageous and exemplary gesture by seeking a moratorium on executions during this Holy Year of Mercy”. Amnesty International’s 2015 report states that at the end of 2015:
- 140 countries had abolished the death penalty in law or practice. Note that the 13 English-speaking countries in the Caribbean are retentionist countries. Note that Suriname, which is in our region, abolished the death penalty in March 2015;
- 25 countries carried out 1,634 executions in 2015 (up 54% on 2014). Excluding China, which is considered to be the world’s “top executioner” (AI), 89% of those executed were from Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia;
- 1,988 persons were sentenced to death in 61 countries – the highest number recorded in more than 25 years;
- 20,292 persons were on death row globally at the end of 2015.
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“The Innocence List” (www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/innocence-list-those-freed-death-row) shows that in the US, 156 persons have been exonerated and released from death row since 1973.
Juan Melendez is one of these exonerees. He spent nearly 18 years on death row in the US for a crime that he did not commit. In 2014, he accompanied me in my role as Chair of the Greater Caribbean for Life (GCL) on a Speaking Tour of six Caribbean islands, together with Renny Cushing, a five-term New Hampshire state representative and founder of Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights. Juan’s story highlights the terrible flaws in criminal justice systems and inspires me and others to find, as our Church suggests, non-lethal means of protecting society from aggressors.
A very informative publication was launched at the World Congress held in Oslo: “Pathways to Abolition of the Death Penalty” (Cornell Law School). It is a comparative study of the circumstances and strategies that led to abolition in 14 jurisdictions in all 5 continents – “across a range of geographical regions, cultural traditions, and legal systems.”
Didier Burkhalter, Federal Councillor of Switzerland, makes a powerful statement in his foreword: “A justice that kills is inherently wrong, and maintaining a sanction that can lead to fatal consequences, be it due to discriminatory biases or judicial errors, is morally questionable.”
Another useful resource published last year by the UN is: Moving Away from the Death Penalty: Arguments, Trends and Perspectives.
On Thursday, June 23, Fr Robert Christo, a few invited guests, and I met with three representatives from Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA): Dip. Minou Tavarez Mirabal from Dominican Republic and PGA President, Dr David Donat Cattin, PGA Secretary-General, and Monica Adame, PGA Program Director.
PGA is “a network of more than 1,300 parliamentarians from 143 Parliaments across the world” that, inter alia, “utilizes peer-to-peer advocacy methodology…to allow for a multi-partisan involvement of the concerned stakeholders to strengthen their understanding of misconceptions about the death penalty and its ineffectiveness in crime prevention and justice.”
One of their reasons for visiting T&T was to form a local chapter of PGA. Another was to meet with me, as Chair of CCSJ and GCL, and with others to discuss issues relating to the abolition of the death penalty. As PGA rightly states: “Justice is not revenge.”
Let us urge our Government to strengthen the capacity of public institutions, including the criminal justice systems, to address crime and violence and the risk factors that contribute to crime.
It’s time to boost preventive measures also and create within our parishes, outreach programmes to stand in solidarity with the victims of crime as part of a reparative justice approach to crime.
