PM, Eustace agree on death penalty, homosexuality

UNITED FRONT

This country’s two major political figures are united on the death penalty and the continued criminalization of

homosexuality, but the head of the local Human Rights Organisation has declared war.{{more}}

“We will have to get our international Human Rights partners involved because we are in a battle against the two major political parties on these issues,” said Nicole Sylvester, president of the Human Rights Organisation of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

In an unusually show of unity, Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves and Opposition Leader Arnhim Eustace both declared their support of the death penalty and the continued criminalization of homosexuality in St Vincent and the Grenadines in parliament last Thursday, June 28.

Dr Gonsalves, answering a question on this year’s murder rate asked of him by Opposition Leader Arnhim Eustace, used the opportunity to reiterate his stance that the death penalty is a needed deterrent to would be murderers.

Dr Gonsalves said that the Court of Appeal and the Privy Council have taken the teeth out of the death penalty.

“It is very difficult to hang somebody now, with the deadlines and the way the process is going now, they have practically made it impossible,” Dr Gonsalves said.

“I have made it plain that the provision in the new constitution that I want it to be so tightened that the Judges will find it very difficult to get around them for us to impose the death penalty, we have to put it that way,” Dr Gonsalves said

St Vincent and the Grenadines is in the process of instituting a new Constitution, which is expected to go through all its stages of negotiations, review and referendum by 2009.

“In many instances politicians make decisions based on what is the popular vote,” said Sylvester who added that these decisions are not necessarily made on principle.

She said that in a modern society it is important to note that violence begats violence and no act of violence should be tolerated – even in the name of the state.

“We should not desire to tighten the constitution to allow us to hang people but rather search out the root cause of crime,” said Sylvester.

She said that the Human Rights Organisation is convinced that we should not desire to destroy life in an act of revenge.

“When we examine our prisons they are poor and oppressed people, society has failed them,” she stated emphatically.

As for the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader’s united stance on the criminalization of homosexuality, Sylvester said that our society is only perpetuating the continued “closet” lifestyle which is detrimental to the said society.

She noted that when a homosexual doesn’t feel that he or she can be themselves then they become duplicitous and destroy the sanctity of marriage.

“They marry to cover up their homosexuality and eventually destroy the institution of marriage,” Sylvester said.

“Individuals who do what they do (freely) should not be made criminals,” Sylvester said.

She said that while some may say that homosexuals should be courageous and come out of the closet, she is afraid of harm coming to them because of the intolerance that is perpetuated in the country.

“While I know that homosexuals are children of God and I have nothing against them as children of God, I will not be involved in changing the laws as they exist in St Vincent and the Grenadines, someone else can do that,” Dr Gonsalves said in parliament last week.

He got support from Arnhim Eustace, who made it clear that he fully supports the death penalty as a form of punishment for capital offences, and he does not support the decriminalization of homosexuality in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

According to Chapter 124 of the laws of St Vincent and the Grenadines, a person can be imprisoned for up to 10 years for buggery.