Prime Minister P.J. Patterson (right) at a press briefing yesterday at Old Hope Road, St. Andrew. Looking on (from left) are Dr. Karl Blythe, Water and Housing Minister, and Robert Pickersgill, Minister of Mining and Energy. - Winston Sill
CONVICTED MURDERERS may soon not have the option of appealing to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) if the governing People's National Party (PNP) has its way.
The Prime Minister warned yesterday at a press briefing at the party's Old Hope Road headquarters in St. Andrew that the Government would have no choice but to pull out of the human rights body, if it did not speed up the process of hearing appeals.
His warning comes in the wake of the controversial ruling of the UK-based Privy Council which last week overturned the death sentences of six convicted murderers, including Neville Lewis who was convicted for the slaying of Kingston businessman and golf consultant, Vic Higgs.
The Prime Minister has also written to CARICOM Chairman Sir James Mitchell requesting a meeting of the Caribbean Community's Legal Committee. Mr. Patterson is hoping for a regional position on the Privy Council's ruling. The Attorneys-General are expected in the island early next week, ahead of the three-day Canada/CARICOM Summit in Montego Bay, St. James.
In justifying any decision that might be taken to part company with the IACHR, the Prime Minister pointed out that the commission religiously overturned the death penalty "even where they have failed to find any travesty of justice". He asserted that this was so because all the other jurisdictions in the hemisphere except those in the Commonwealth Caribbean and the United States no longer have the death penalty in place.
We ought to make one last effort to have the IACHR address the peculiar problem of countries with a Commonwealth jurisdiction," Mr. Patterson said even while pointing to what might be a recurring problem because of the seemingly premeditated decisions and the lengthy appeals of the commission.
Mr. Patterson said Cabinet had discussed the possibility of amendments to the Constitution that would change the way the local Privy Council operates. The Attorney-General's department has been instructed to look at what is required in terms of amendments and is to make a submission to Cabinet next week identifying the amendments to be made.
