Death penalty not the answer, says bishop

 THE death penalty is not the answer to stopping violent crimes in the country, a clergyman says.

Archbishop of Mt Hagen Douglas Young said in a statement last week appropriate policies and programmes to address the plight of young men would be better alternatives to deal with crime in the long term.

“It is already well known that the death penalty is not a deterrent to violent crimes,” Young said.

“Those who commit these offences do not believe that they will be caught and even less be actually sentenced.” 

Young said the major deterrent to crime is not the severity of punishment but its certainty. 

“Talk of the death penalty is giving in to the same vengeful streak in PNG culture that is part of our current problem.”

Young said the call by many people, including the Attorney-General Kerenga Kua for the death penalty to be implemented was a “knee-jerk reaction”.

Young said what was really needed was support programmes that would help young men to find employment, identity, and satisfaction in life. 

“Strengthen police capacity to find, arrest and prosecute offenders. 

“Give the clear message: if you do this you will be caught and you will be punished,” Young said.

He said cultural norms that encouraged the protection of offenders of violent crimes should be changed where necessary. 

“Let’s turn our attention to policies that will genuinely address the plague of violence in Papua New Guinea, not those that serve only to further brutalise the nation,” he said. 

Young said he agreed with the Minister for Community Development Loujaya Toni that imposing death penalty on perpetrators of violent crimes is not a better solution in ending the violence. 

Young said Toni in a recent visit to Mt Hagen reminded women at the opening of the National Council of Women that every man who turns out to be a rapist, abuser, or murderer is some mother’s son. 

“She challenged the women to evaluate their child rearing practices as to whether they were in fact teaching boys to be model citizens and that violence could be a solution to problems and a legitimate way of expressing frustration,” Young said.