The National Assembly unanimously passed legislation last night which allows non-capital punishment for various categories of convicted murderers, but the death penalty remains on the books.
The issue of a moratorium on the death penalty came up during the debate with opposition speakers saying the administration needs to go the full mile, and a call was also made for death row prisoners to have their sentences commuted to life imprisonment.
But government said it is willing to go this far with the Criminal Law Offences (Amendment) Act and recognize the need for some concessions; not total abolition. Speakers on the government benches also dismissed suggestions that the legislation was due to international pressure.
Attorney General Charles Ramson who tabled the legislation called it “necessary” saying that murder is now classified as capital and non-capital. He said that some sections in the society subscribe to the principle of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”, noting that people have supported the death penalty for various reasons. “…It’s now a human right issue”, he said.
He argued that the purpose of the amendment was not to determine whether fewer murders would be recorded if executions are removed from the law books, but to offer a more practical approach since according to him, some defiant conduct though fatal is not always premeditated.
PNCR-1G MP Clarissa Riehl said the legislation represents a partial abolition of the death penalty and is sound in that respect, but she was critical of the categorization process because it failed to specifically mention gender-based murders among the category one murders.
She said domestic violence-related murders are plaguing the country and that women are being killed in gruesome fashion. Riehl argued that such murders need to be categorized among the more serious ones outlined in the legislation.
Murders identified in the category (1) include the murders of persons in the security forces who are murdered during the execution of their duties; murders calculated to cause fear in the public and contract murders among others; they all attract the death penalty and or a term of life imprisonment while murders considered category (2) will attract life imprisonment or another term the Court considers appropriate but not less than fifteen years.
Riehl also submitted an amendment saying she would like the law to include piracy murder and a murder resulting from hijackings to be included in the category (1), but it was rejected.
She said her party is supportive of the partial move to abolish the death penalty, adding that she is personally against any further executions by the state.
She was also critical of how Magistrates are remanding prisoners at whim and “filling up the prisons which can barely accommodate them”- Georgetown prison with over around 1038 and approximately 2092 countrywide. According to her, there is a need for sentencing guidelines.
She said too that violence would continue to escalate in the country unless the government seriously addresses the causes that result in “so much societal violence” in the country; sexual violence; the inequalities which are so prevalent; greed and endemic corruption.
AFC MP Khemraj Ramjattan commended the government for the “half-way” move and called on them to go “all the way” and abolish the death penalty. He spoke of a person’s fundamental right to life recalling that he made a personal plea back in 1995 to the PPP/C led government to abolish it.
Ramjattan said his plea was rejected instantly with party seniors pointing to the popularity of the death penalty at the time. “…You could not see it when I made the call and today the government is here passing this legislation.
You’re finally realized the reason”, he said, but also questioned whether the government was failing in line for donor funding.
He argued that legislation is not going to solve the real problems in the country, noting that government needs to strengthen investigative skills within the Guyana Police Force in addition to improving professionalism within the force.
He said too that the prosecution team at the DPP chambers needs enhancing and continued training like the police.
PPP/C MPs Anil Nandlall and Clement Rohee also spoke on the bill. Nandlall called it “social engineering” on the part of the government saying that it found common ground between the opposing views in the society; those who support the death penalty and those against it.
Rohee argued that amendment would not bring an end to crimes in the country saying that was not the purpose. He said also that while people like to speak of the murder rate here “the rate compared to other Caricom countries is like comparing apples to mangoes”.
