Gleaner Article: Editorial
The Gleaner's Editorial of May 3, 2016 described Minister of National
Security Bobby Montague "calling for the resumption of hanging" as
"tried and tested to incite popular emotions", and I would add
unconstitutional since it is the prerogative of the DPP to make such a call
based on crimes punishable by death.
Since the late 1970s, over 40,000 Jamaicans have been murdered and
Amnesty International reports that there are "at least seven" persons
known to be under sentence of death by the end of 2011. The last execution in
Jamaica by hanging was in 1988. Clearly, the problem lies not in the courts,
but the investigative arm of our police force and its inability to arrest
persons who are involved in aggravated murder.
Second, the resumption of hanging cannot be a deterrent, since there has
been a cultural shift in regards to the fear of death among most persons who
would commit murder. It is like telling a suicide terrorist that you will hang
him/her if caught. In most conflicts, we often hear of persons who have
expressed no fear of death as long as they had eliminated their victim/s. We
are living in a culture that denies death as expressed in the social
manifestation of nine-nights, grave digging ceremonies, "bling"
funerals and unconventional tomb structures.
May 5, 2016
TRANSFORM GHETTO CAPITAL
To solve Jamaica's high murder rate, our nation and, in particular the
inner city communities, need a shake-up. This requires political will. Jamaica
is also perhaps the only country in the world where its capital is mostly
ghetto. The parish of Kingston needs an infusion of middle- and upper-class
residential areas for its transformation.
At our educational level, the elementary, primary and secondary schools
need to not only have instructional education, but that of formation as set out
in the values and attitudes agenda. We have over the last 30 years been
producing citizens who are crass, undisciplined, uneducated and lacking in patriotic
allegiance to Jamaica.
Dudley C. McLean II
Mandeville, Manchester
Question; How can one know their rights and responsibilities as a
citizens of a country.
Contributor:
Shana-Kay Porter
4th Year History and Social
Studies Student
Bethlehem Moravian College
In country like ours today. Have the challenge of tackling crime but not without the citizens playing an active role in preventing or helping to bringing criminals to justice. The citizens knowing that they are responsible to play a part in preventing illegal or criminal activities from happen will resulted in lowering in the high crime rate.
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