Those commuted death sentences

Jun 07, 2012 Editorial

Four Death Row inmates recently had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment. The main reason offered was that the men had been on Death Row for too long and that to execute them now would be cruel and inhuman treatment.
For a number of years the International Human Rights Commission has been plugging for the abolition of the death penalty in many countries. It described the death penalty as barbaric. As we stated in an earlier editorial there are countries that have acceded to this call and have substituted life imprisonment, sometimes under conditions that the person spends his natural life behind bars.
Ever since the commuting of the death sentences, opinion has been divided. Some proclaim that the men had indeed suffered and that it was indeed a good thing that the sentences be commuted. There were people who said that the judicial system has been known to make mistakes and that it was not unusual that innocent people were put to death. And once the sentence was executed there was no way it could be reversed.
But there were those, especially the relatives of the victims who say that the courts never take their loss into consideration. To further highlight this view, one relative pointed to the case of eighteen-year-old Roshana Kassim who was killed in her home even as she was preparing a meal for the household. In the wake of her death her father died months later, a victim of a condition that developed as a result of the girl’s murder.
Her mother did not last long either and some believe that the mother died as a result of a combination of her daughter and her husband’s death.
Then there was Lawrence Chan – one of those to have his sentence commuted. He was sentenced to death in 1995 and has been on Death Row ever since. He was convicted for killing two people during an armed robbery. The killing of one of the victims was said to be as cruel as anything could be.
The relatives of this victim wanted death for the man who brought death to them. Within days they would be allowed to vent their feelings on the recent court decision.
These relatives always say that the system does not take their grief into consideration; that the relatives of the victim must bear their grief alone because they do not have rights. And indeed, all those who represent those on Death Row talk about human rights and their violations.
For example, the decision to commute the sentences of the Death Row accused was rooted in human rights considerations. The court found that the men’s continued detention constituted cruel and inhuman treatment. Some of the men had had their warrants read to them twice. Further, they had served more than what constitutes a life sentence.
If indeed the state is violating the rights of the people under the death sentence then it behooves the state to execute the men after what is considered a reasonable time—perhaps three years. The last time anyone was executed in Guyana was way back in 1997.
Advocates of the death penalty see it as a deterrent and they blame the apparent intensification of violent crimes is the result of the moratorium on the death penalty. One view is that the criminals know that they would live to kill again so there is no fear. Many of them are young and they know that if caught they would be out while they still have some youth in them.
Whatever the case, the decision by the Chief Justice could have far-reaching implications. Someone is going to talk about precedent. It would therefore mean that any attempt to execute anyone would be met with a legal challenge on the grounds of precedence. This may not be a good thing.
We are certain that the issue does not end here. Using precedence others on Death Row are going to petition the courts to have their sentences commuted. And the relatives of the victims are going to create a furore.

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