BARBADOS GOVERNMENT ABOLISHING MANDATORY DEATH SENTENCE

May 4, 2009: Barbados Attorney General Freundel Stuart confirmed in an interview with the Sunday Sun newspaper that the government is moving to abolish the mandatory death penalty. There has not been a hanging since 1984.
"The mandatory death sentence can no longer be defended. The judge should have some power to determine what sentence should be imposed for a capital offence," Stuart said.
The changes are expected to be approved without problem by the parliament.
In a letter written to the Inter-American Human Rights Court earlier this year, the government signalled its intention to make the change and said the decision came after extensive inter-ministerial consultation and full deliberation by Cabinet. (Sources: Caribbean360.com, 04/05/2009)