A regional Caribbean human rights group welcomed an...

A regional Caribbean human rights group welcomed an Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) order that Trinidad and Tobago [must] update its laws on the death penalty, in compliance with international standards.
The court was ruling on a case involving 32 death-row prisoners. "While we unreservedly oppose capital punishment in all circumstances, this ruling is important in limiting its application and we hope it will be a first step towards total abolition," said [the human rights group] Caribbean Justice in a press statement following the ruling.
In a judgment delivered on 21 June, the court found a number of violations of the American Convention on Human Rights, from which the country has withdrawn. These included the right not to be arbitrarily deprived of life, the right to fair trial, the right to be tried within a reasonable time, the right to effective recourse where breaches of human rights are alleged, the right to humane treatment and the right to apply for amnesty, pardon or commutation.
Trinidad and Tobago was ordered to amend its law, which has not been updated since 1925, under which the death penalty is mandatory and must be imposed regardless of the circumstances of the offence or any mitigating factors.