OCEANIA/PAPUA NEW GUINEA - Archbishop Douglas: "It is urgent to find something better than the death penalty"

Friday, 26 April 2013

Mount Hagnen (Agenzia Fides) – Before the blind violence towards other human beings, of rapists and murderers, the pain and frustration of the victims, "the reaction of many, even of the General Attorney, is to ask for the death penalty. But it is precisely this that the nation intends to tell young people: that if someone does any harm, is the best remedy simply to kill him? ". This is the question that opens the reflection of His Exc. Mgr. Douglas W. Young, SVD.
Archbishop of Mount Hagen, who in a statement sent to Fides Agency condemns the pro-capital punishment campaign in the country, while the Church and other sectors of society promote a moratorium and the abolition of capital punishment. "It is already well known – he stresses - that the death penalty is not a deterrent to violent crime. Those who commit these crimes do not think they will be caught and even fewer who will be condemned. The important deterrent for crime is not the severity of punishment, but its certainty. Speaking of the death penalty, one is injecting in the society and culture of Papua New Guinea the same vengeful mood that is part of our current problem, " warns the Archbishop.
In recent days, the Minister for Community Development, Hon. Loujaya Tony, reminded the women who "raise their children to believe that violence could be a solution to the problems." Mgr. Douglas Young invites institutions, bodies, social, religious communities to "support programs that help young people to find work, identity, and satisfaction in life", rather than look for shortcuts with violence. In addition, "we must strengthen the capacity of the police to find, arrest and prosecute the criminals, giving a clear message that those who commit crimes will be punished." As a Church, "we put our attention to policies that actually address the scourge of violence in Papua, not to those that only serve to further brutalize the nation," he concludes. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 26/04/2013)


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