The newly-constituted campaign group Greater Caribbean for Life continues its call for Caribbean countries that retain the death penalty to abolish it.
T&T's Leela Ramdeen who is well known for her work with the Catholic Commission for Social Justice holds the chair.
The organisation claims that tackling crime can be achieved without the enforcement of the death penalty, even though statistics show that murders in the Caribbean have increased in the past decade.
T&T and Barbados are said to be the only english-speaking Caribbean countries that retain the mandatory death penalty for murder.
To mark the observance of World Day Against the Death Penalty on October 10, the delegation of the European Union brought together its members at the National Academy for the Performing Arts on Frederick Street, Port-of-Spain, for the viewing of a film on the topic.
Earlier this year, it hosted a conference titled Delivering on the Death Penalty.
Greater Caribbean for Life representatives from 12 Caribbean countries earlier this month gathered in Port-of-Spain to debate the issue in the context of public security.
The meeting concluded with the adoption of a formal constitution of the Greater Caribbean for Life, an organisation that comprises individuals and organisations from the across the region.
The goal of the campaign group is to achieve the permanent abolition of capital punishment in every Caribbean state and the creation of a culture of respect for the right to life and the inherent dignity of all human beings.
Source: Trinidad Guardian, October 17, 2013
