[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Dec. 9



JAMAICA:

More scrutiny likely for Jamaica after death penalty retention


The Chairman of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR),
Paolo Carozza has warned that countries that impose the death penalty
might be subjected to international scrutiny.

Carozza, who headed a delegation of IACHR members to Jamaica, said, "We
advise that countries that have abolished the death penalty, do not
re-institute it."

Speaking at a forum hosted by human rights lobby, Jamaicans for Justice,
in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice, the IACHR chairman said
that the death penalty was not a mandate of the Commission, but said that
it was inconsistent with the conventions of the organisation.

He added that the Commission's mandate was to promote the observance of
human rights in the region in accordance with the parameters established
in the American Convention on Human Rights, which Jamaica ratified in
1978.

Last week Jamaica's House of Representatives voted to retain the death
penalty and Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Dorothy Lightbourne
defended Government's commitment to reform, promising to increase the
number of judges in the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal and implement
real-time transcription of cases.

(source: Caribbean Net News)