Jamaica, plagued by violence and struggling to control...

Jamaica, plagued by violence and struggling to control rising gun crime, should execute convicted arms smugglers, the nation's new minister of national security said.
Dr. Peter Phillips told a meeting of the Jamaica-British Business Association that anyone caught and convicted of smuggling guns to the Caribbean island should face the death penalty.
"These people should be hanged," Phillips said. The current penalty for arms smuggling is a maximum prison term of up to 25 years, plus fines.
Jamaica's 2.6 million people suffer one of the highest per capita murder rates in the world.
Phillips' position on hanging arms smugglers is likely to be supported by the hierarchy of the ruling People's National Party, which has maintained a strong pro-hanging position. Under current Jamaican law, only murderers can be hanged.
Capital punishment enjoys wide public support as a deterrent in the English-speaking Caribbean despite efforts by colonial power Britain to persuade governments to abolish it.