Antilles to abolish capital punishment

March 11, 2010 4:07 AM

Capital punishment for heinous crimes is possible in the Netherlands Antilles, but this section of the Penal Code has never been used in the more than fifty years of the country's existence, and it never will, once Parliament moves to strike it off the books next week.

Also to be amended are the sections of the Civil and Penal Codes concerning human trafficking, to comply with the United Nations Treaty on Cross-Border Crimes. The amendments also will deal with child and immigrant trafficking.

The draft amendment to eliminate capital punishment from the Civil Code will be discussed by the Central Committee of Parliament on Monday afternoon. This amendment will bring the Antilles into compliance with the European Union Treaty on Human Rights.

Capital punishment is a "dead letter" in the law books of the Antilles. No one has ever been hanged in the Antilles, outgoing President of Parliament Pedro Atacho told the press Wednesday morning.

An increasing number of countries are abolishing the death penalty, and even the most active users of capital punishment are taking steps to restrict it, said a congress of abolitionists during the World Congress against the Death Penalty held in Geneva in February.

The congress was backed by the Swiss Government and draws strong support from Italy and Spain, reflecting the fact that Europe is now almost entirely free of executions. The campaign was given support in 2007 by a non-binding United Nations resolution calling on countries that use the death penalty to introduce a moratorium and arguing that capital punishment undermines human dignity and is not a deterrent.

9 March 2010