Death Is Not The Answer
By: Editorial CommentPAEDOPHILES and child killers quite possibly are, as many believe, the scum of the earth, and the rise in child abuse, rape and murder, is possibly THE most concerning development in our independent Namibia today, but we cannot and should not bring back the death penalty and think that we will solve the problem in this manner.
We will not.
Prior to Independence, death by hanging was sanctioned by the
former South African apartheid government in Namibia.
When our founding mothers and fathers wrote the Constitution,
they took a major step forward in terms of progressive policies, by
abolishing capital punishment.
The result is that our Constitution is both clear and inviolable
on the issue of the abolition of the death penalty: In Chapter III,
Article 6 on the Protection of Life, it says: "The right to life
shall be respected and protected. No law may prescribe death as a
competent sentence. No court or tribunal shall have the power to
impose a sentence of death upon any person. No execution shall take
place in Namibia".
And no State-sanctioned executions have taken place in Namibia
for the past 15 years of independence.
As public emotions run high, particularly and understandably,
over the recent spate of child rape and murder cases, people are
seeking the re-introduction of the death penalty in the hope that
this would act as a deterrent to would-be murderers and
rapists.
Even a visibly angry Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Minister of Women
Affairs and Child Welfare, herself aware of the inviolable nature
of the Constitution on the issue of the death penalty, has called
for a national debate with a view to its reinstatement.
"As much as I respect and have taken (an) oath to defend and
protect the Namibian Constitution, the events of the past weeks ...
leave me with no other alternative but to submit to the nation to
seriously discuss if it is not possible to introduce capital
punishment," the Minister said in Parliament this week.
And while this newspaper shares the shock expressed by many
Namibians over these horrific crimes against our youth, we
nevertheless feel that the death penalty is not, and cannot be, the
solution.
Our Constitution is clear on the fact that the right to life
should be protected, and all our efforts, as a nation, should be
geared towards striving for the realisation of this ideal, rather
than compromise it by adding to the problem in giving the State the
right to diminish this right when it sees fit.
Lest we forget, during the occupation years of this country,
people were put to death for reasons other than the explicit
problem of child rape and abuse which trouble our country today,
and which included some convicted for 'political' offences.
Both here and in South Africa there were those jurists known as
'hanging judges' because of their tendency to impose capital
punishment, if not arbitrarily, then quite frequently.
Ways and means must be found by the people of this country to
examine the root causes of this rising problem and to themselves
play an active role in the protection of our children.
Ways and means can also be found to make a prison term a
daunting prospect, and while we would not sanction gratuitous
cruelty, there is absolutely no reason why life sentence with hard
labour, for example, cannot constitute a deterrent.
The objections of most Namibians seem to be centred on the fact
that such convicted offenders are treated to free board and
lodging, courtesy of the State and taxpayers, and this may in fact
be true.
We do need to look at putting such people to work to earn their
keep, and just one example that springs to mind is the railway that
we are building.
There are many others.
But apart from looking more creatively at ways and means of
punishing offenders, we cannot hide from the fact that it is
Namibian fathers, brothers, uncles and sons who are committing
these horrific crimes and that our society as a whole bears
responsibility for their actions.
Good parenting too, is key in this process.
These crimes are not due to poverty (for they happen in all
strata of our society, much of it hidden from view) and good
parenting is fundamental to the reduction of these aberrations.
Simply put, every society has those criminal elements who will
prey upon the weak, vulnerable and innocent.
We have to both analyse the reasons for our situation and
minimise the ways in which such elements can gain access to our
children.
Allowing underage youth to walk the streets at night; leaving
young children untended at home; neither of these are examples of
good parenting.
And we must bring up our sons to understand that women can say
'no' and that the abuse of children is entirely off limits.
The media have brought these cases to the fore, primarily in
order to rouse our people to action to do something about them.
The challenge is upon us to rise to it.
Prior to Independence, death by hanging was sanctioned by the
former South African apartheid government in Namibia.When our
founding mothers and fathers wrote the Constitution, they took a
major step forward in terms of progressive policies, by abolishing
capital punishment. The result is that our Constitution is both
clear and inviolable on the issue of the abolition of the death
penalty: In Chapter III, Article 6 on the Protection of Life, it
says: "The right to life shall be respected and protected. No law
may prescribe death as a competent sentence. No court or tribunal
shall have the power to impose a sentence of death upon any person.
No execution shall take place in Namibia".And no State-sanctioned
executions have taken place in Namibia for the past 15 years of
independence.As public emotions run high, particularly and
understandably, over the recent spate of child rape and murder
cases, people are seeking the re-introduction of the death penalty
in the hope that this would act as a deterrent to would-be
murderers and rapists.Even a visibly angry Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah,
Minister of Women Affairs and Child Welfare, herself aware of the
inviolable nature of the Constitution on the issue of the death
penalty, has called for a national debate with a view to its
reinstatement."As much as I respect and have taken (an) oath to
defend and protect the Namibian Constitution, the events of the
past weeks ... leave me with no other alternative but to submit to
the nation to seriously discuss if it is not possible to introduce
capital punishment," the Minister said in Parliament this week.And
while this newspaper shares the shock expressed by many Namibians
over these horrific crimes against our youth, we nevertheless feel
that the death penalty is not, and cannot be, the solution.Our
Constitution is clear on the fact that the right to life should be
protected, and all our efforts, as a nation, should be geared
towards striving for the realisation of this ideal, rather than
compromise it by adding to the problem in giving the State the
right to diminish this right when it sees fit.Lest we forget,
during the occupation years of this country, people were put to
death for reasons other than the explicit problem of child rape and
abuse which trouble our country today, and which included some
convicted for 'political' offences.Both here and in South Africa
there were those jurists known as 'hanging judges' because of their
tendency to impose capital punishment, if not arbitrarily, then
quite frequently.Ways and means must be found by the people of this
country to examine the root causes of this rising problem and to
themselves play an active role in the protection of our
children.Ways and means can also be found to make a prison term a
daunting prospect, and while we would not sanction gratuitous
cruelty, there is absolutely no reason why life sentence with hard
labour, for example, cannot constitute a deterrent.The objections
of most Namibians seem to be centred on the fact that such
convicted offenders are treated to free board and lodging, courtesy
of the State and taxpayers, and this may in fact be true.We do need
to look at putting such people to work to earn their keep, and just
one example that springs to mind is the railway that we are
building.There are many others.But apart from looking more
creatively at ways and means of punishing offenders, we cannot hide
from the fact that it is Namibian fathers, brothers, uncles and
sons who are committing these horrific crimes and that our society
as a whole bears responsibility for their actions.Good parenting
too, is key in this process.These crimes are not due to poverty
(for they happen in all strata of our society, much of it hidden
from view) and good parenting is fundamental to the reduction of
these aberrations.Simply put, every society has those criminal
elements who will prey upon the weak, vulnerable and innocent.We
have to both analyse the reasons for our situation and minimise the
ways in which such elements can gain access to our
children.Allowing underage youth to walk the streets at night;
leaving young children untended at home; neither of these are
examples of good parenting.And we must bring up our sons to
understand that women can say 'no' and that the abuse of children
is entirely off limits.The media have brought these cases to the
fore, primarily in order to rouse our people to action to do
something about them.The challenge is upon us to rise to it.