Dennie Quill, Contributor
I SINCERELY believe that Health Minister John Junor is trying to understand the anguish of the families of slain children and this is why he has joined the call for murder of children to be a capital offence punishable by death. But this suggestion is laughable, and the persons laughing loudest are the criminals. Yes, they rape, brutalise and kill and they mock the rest of society. Murder is a crime now subject to the death penalty, but the majority of Mr. Junor's parliamentary colleagues have demonstrated their apathy to the crime situation by not ensuring that the law is carried out. There appears to be broad consensus on the need to carry out the death penalty, however, the last people to be convinced are the parliamentarians. That of course, is politics.
UNAVOIDABLE TRUTH
The unavoidable truth is that for a long time in this country, many people have been content to excuse heinous crimes by ascribing blame to the victims embarrassingly searching for skeletons in their closets. For example, someone's murder is justified because he was a drug dealer, or a homosexual, or an adulterer. And we retired to our beds feeling that this was another justifiable death. So victims have been multiplying and disappointingly little has been done to mete out the requisite punishment to the offenders. But as we hear about murder of innocent children in Westmoreland, St. Mary, St. Thomas, Kingston, finally the nation is taking notice and there is simmering rage because the state has failed to provide protection for its most valuable assets. Daily our future is being destroyed.
Not only do the families of the victims have to deal with heartache, they also have to fight for justice for their murdered loved ones. And one cannot blame them if they feel that the justice system is indifferent to their anguish and pain.
In the last month I have had a pile of emails and phone calls from persons overseas enquiring: What is going on in Jamaica? Why dem turn on the children? I am at a loss for words. And when I see images of little children marching in the streets it breaks my heart. The children come from different homes and varied circumstances but they are united in the sad reality that Jamaica is a dangerous place in which to live and that adults will hack children to pieces.
OPTIONS
It is clear that things cannot go on like this. We have to think of our options and I know there are solutions out there. Most times we do not apprehend the criminals; when we do apprehend them they are freed of the crimes, and if we secure a conviction they then settle back to a cozy lifestyle in prison; if they are lucky they may even have feminine company brought to them in jail. They certainly will have cellphones and television sets. Seriously though, what do we have left? Mr. Junor called for other special forms of punishment and although he did not elaborate, I wonder whether he was thinking of publicly lashing these criminals. Or perhaps he was thinking about having them work to compensate the secondary victims of their crimes.
We must develop a national consensus about how we protect our most precious resources from exploitation and death. Crimes against children should be accorded its own unit within the Jamaica Constabulary Force as a way of demonstrating that we are serious about dealing with the predators out there.
Dennie Quill is a veteran journalist who may be reached at denniequill@hotmail.com.
