The justice and peace commission of the Roman Catholic...

The justice and peace commission of the Roman Catholic diocese in Barbados renewed calls for a constitutional amendment to abolish the death penalty, following a Privy Council ruling that the death sentence in Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago was constitutional. In April 2003, the commission called on the authorities to commute the sentences of death-row prisoners and urged the Barbados government to make the necessary changes to the constitution to abolish the death penalty.
"We now renew this call in the hope that the parliament of Barbados would take the courageous step of abolishing the death penalty and thereby give a lead in this important matter to other Caribbean Countries," the commission said in a statement.
It described the death penalty as inhuman and degrading "and it is now up to us to determine if this is so in Barbados".