Bishop
Walter Hanchell, of Great Commission Ministries
[PHOTO
SOURCE: http://www.thebahamasweekly.com/publish/community/Bishop_Hanchell_Thanksgiving_Luncheon_printer.shtml]
Bishop
Walter Hanchell, of Great Commission Ministries
[PHOTO
SOURCE: http://www.thebahamasweekly.com/publish/community/Bishop_Hanchell_Thanksgiving_Luncheon_printer.shtml]
Bishop Hanchell backs use of death penalty
Tuesday,
November 22, 2016
By RICARDO
WELLSTribune Staff Reporter
rwells@tribunemedia.net
DESPITE calls by Archbishop of the
Catholic Archdiocese Patrick Pinder for regional legislators to abolish the
death penalty, another religious leader has come forward with demands for the
enforcement of capital punishment.
In a detailed statement to the press on
Monday, Citizens for Justice (CFJ) Chairman and local bishop, Walter Hanchell
said he disagrees with the archbishop’s position on the issue, calling it
“biblically and morally” contrary to scripture.
Bishop Hanchell, of Great Commission
Ministries, said his church
remains a firm supporter of “restorative
justice” for all those convicted of crimes other than murder.
For those convicted of murder, Bishop
Hanchell said they ought to “suffer the penalty of
death for their crimes as prescribed by law”.
Archbishop Pinder, last week, in a joint
pastoral statement from the Bishops of the Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC)
in commemoration of the Catholic Church’s Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy,
urged governments and citizens in the region to abolish capital punishment.
Nineteen bishops signed the statement.
The statement said to take away a
person’s “basic right to immunity from fatal harm” is to “compromise his/her
sacred dignity”.
However, responding to these claims on
Monday, Bishop Hanchell suggested that capital
punishment was not an act conceived in the mind of any human being, but was an
act instituted by God according to scripture to “punish and remove” murderers
from society.
“It was never meant to be a
deterrent even though studies show that it most certainly is,” wrote Bishop Hanchell.
“Cries that capital punishment
is inhumane and barbaric in the twenty first century are irrational when we
consider that God has not changed and his word, which is His will for mankind,
certainly has not changed and never will.
“The Holy Bible in both the
Old Testament and the New Testament commands that persons guilty of committing
the crime of murder be punished by death. God is both a God of love and a God
of justice.
“All moral laws, including
capital punishment, have their root in the Bible. A close study of scripture
will reveal that the death penalty was always mandatory except in cases of
accidental or intentional death. The word of God is clear concerning punishment
for murder and no bishop, government, parliament, judiciary or agency such as
Amnesty International, has the power or authority to overrule the laws of God,” he added.
Bishop Hanchell said rather than
advocate for the removal of a law, perhaps religious and political leaders
should look at the plight of the thousands of children who are left fatherless
and the families who mourn the loss of their loved ones because of senseless
killings.
“If you believe that human
life is a sacred gift from God, then why is the life of a wicked murderer more
precious than that of his innocent victim? Nobody has the right to take a life
except the state in capital offences.”
Analysing the issue from a political
perspective, Bishop Hanchell noted that despite the valiant efforts of the
police force, the government and legislators have intentionally refused to
enforce the laws of the Bahamas to the detriment of all who live here.
“The ruling Progressive Liberal Party
(PLP) government led by Prime Minister Perry Christie did not carry out a
single execution during their first term in office from 2002 to 2007. While serving
as the Leader of the Opposition in 2011, Mr Christie declared his party’s
support for capital punishment. Despite record murder statistics in the current
term, not a single person has been executed for the hundreds of brutal murders
that have been committed in the Bahamas over the past 15 plus years.”
The last time capital punishment was
carried out was in 2000.
Bishop Hanchell said politicians who
were elected to enforce the law have failed “miserably in this endeavour.”
He added: “In March 2006, the Privy
Council ruled that the mandatory death sentence was unconstitutional. Members
of Citizens For Justice believe that this ruling was flawed since the
Constitution of The Bahamas clearly makes capital punishment legal.
“Capital punishment has long been
abolished in the United Kingdom and most of Europe and we are of the view that
members of the Privy Council have attempted to bring an end to the practice in
The Bahamas.”
In June 2011, the Privy Council
overturned Maxo Tido’s death sentence in connection with the killing of
16-year-old Donnell Connover, whose body was found off Cowpen Road, battered
and bruised and her skull crushed. There was additional evidence that parts of
her body were burned after her death
But the Privy Council concluded that the
murder was not an example of the “worst of the worst.”
In November 2011, Parliament passed
legislation to define the types of murder constituting the “worst of the worst”
guidelines set out by the London court.
Bishop Hanchell added: “A simple legal definition of what the ‘worst of the worst’
or the ‘rarest of the rare’ has caused cold-blooded killers to have their death
sentences commuted to life in prison and many are walking the streets because
of technicalities in our justice system.”
He said it remains a mystery why
Parliament has not addressed this extremely important national concern.
“We are calling again on the
government to defend the Constitution of The Bahamas and for Prime Minister
Christie to deliver on his promise to the Bahamian people to resume capital
punishment. Citizens For Justice also calls for the removal of the Privy
Council as our final Court of Appeal.”
No comments:
Post a Comment