The government of Prime Minister the Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas recently sought to execute four of the seven inmates now being held on death row. The executions have been appealed, so they will not be carried out at this time. The government has not released the names of the men it wants to hang and details about the grounds for the appeals have not been made public, which has led to an abundance of rumors about this situation instead of solid news reporting replete with hard facts – but that is a different topic for a different day.

However, the government has enunciated its policy in this matter. The following is a quote from a press release issued by the Communications Unit of the Office of Prime Minister:

“The death penalty is still on the books and the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis is determined to carry out court-ordered sentences of death by hanging.”

The government’s stance is clear. It wants to hang those who have been sentenced to death.

It is time to put an end to this madness. The government should drop its plans to hang these prisoners and instead begin the process of repealing the death penalty. Amnesty International offers some very good reasons for following this path:

“Every society seeks protection from crimes. Far from being a solution, the death penalty gives the erroneous impression that ‘firm measures’ are being taken against crime. It diverts attention from the more complex measures which are really needed. In the words of the South African Constitution Court in 1995, ‘We would be deluding ourselves if we were to believe that the execution of...a comparatively few people each year...will provide the solution to the unacceptably high rate of crime...The greatest deterrent to crime is the likelihood that offenders will be apprehended, convicted and punished.’

“When the arguments of deterrence and incapacitation fall away, one is left with a more deep-seated justification for the death penalty: that of just retribution for the particular crime committed. According to this argument, certain people deserve to be killed as repayment for the evil done: there are crimes so offensive that killing the offender is the only just response.

“It is an emotionally powerful argument. It is also one which, if valid, would invalidate the basis for human rights. If a person who commits a terrible act can ‘deserve’ the cruelty of death, why cannot others, for similar reasons, ‘deserve’ to be tortured or imprisoned without trial or simply shot on sight? Central to fundamental human rights is that they are inalienable. They may not be taken away even if a person has committed the most atrocious of crimes. Human rights apply to the worst of us as well as to the best of us, which is why they protect all of us.”

Let those who have committed heinous crimes spend the rest of their natural lives in prison. Their crimes have already harmed and debased our society. State-sponsored killings will not bring back the dead or further the cause of justice; such actions will only further debase us.

It is time for the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis to abolish the death penalty.