"Throughout the Commonwealth Caribbean, various legal challenges have been brought to the imposition of the death penalty, the most recent series of which deals with the mandatory nature of the penalty's imposition for crimes of murder (or in some states, certain categories of murder). Efforts undertaken since the mid-1990s to challenge the legality of a mandatory death sentence finally paid off in 2002, when the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (Privy Council), acting as the highest appellate court for all but one of the Commonwealth Caribbean states, held in a series of three cases that such a sentence was contrary to the prohibition on inhuman punishment and therefore unconstitutional." (author)
An editorial focusing on legitimacy sought by Gerard Latortue in the ranks of 15-nation regional body the Caribbean Community Caricom. Mentions that the United States President George W. Bush administration had installed the dictatorship regime of Gerard Latortue in the Republic of Haiti in Caribbean islands after the forced exile of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Also highlights the human rights violations under the dictatorship regime of Latortue.
In the current crisis, the voice of Black America has been inconsistent or hushed. While the Congressional Black Caucus has been outspoken in challenging the [Bush] administration on its entire attitude toward Haiti, there has not been a widespread outcry in our communities. Our voices need to be heard insisting that, one, U.S. and French troops be immediately withdrawn and replaced by soldiers from neutral countries, that is, countries that were not involved in destabilizing the [Aristide] presidency; two, the thugs of the armed opposition need to be immediately disarmed and the convicted criminals among them must be imprisoned; and three, The Caribbean Community or CARICOM should be used as a vehicle to move a national reconciliation program that ultimately results in free and fair elections.
