Jamaica plans to bring back hanging to try to stem...

Jamaica plans to bring back hanging to try to stem a rise in violent crime, the Caribbean nation's No. 1 problem, its leader said. "The Jamaican people are substantially agreed on the need to resume the death penalty. We intend to heed the voice of the people," Prime Minister P.J. Patterson said in a televised speech.The last hanging in Jamaica took place in 1988. Opinion polls show that most Jamaicans would welcome the hanging of criminals as a way to deter crime, which has engulfed this former British colony of 2.8 million people. Police say 971 people have been murdered in Jamaica so far in 2002. In 2001 a record 1,139 people were killed. Capital punishment has been a controversial topic in the English-speaking Caribbean, pitting small nations with surging crime against Britain and international human rights groups. Britain's Privy Council, Jamaica's final appellate court, has consistently upheld submissions from defence attorneys for hangings to be commuted to life imprisonment and has rejected several moves to hang convicted men. Patterson did not say how he intended to resume hanging but political analysts believe Jamaica will unilaterally sever ties with the Privy Council. A Caribbean Court of Justice is to be introduced soon which will act as the final appeals body.The prime minister said he will seek the cooperation of the opposition, which then said that it supported the initiative."The government should go ahead with its plans to resume hanging," opposition spokesman Derrick Smith said.