Papua New Guinea’s justice minister has told parliament he will enforce the nation’s death penalty laws. Kerenga Kua told the chamber last Thursday a government task force had visited Texas in the United States, Indonesia and Thailand to gauge the mechanics of how to implement it, the Post Courier reported. “A full report has been Read more
Vanuatu’s Minister of Justice says he is not in favour of introducing the death penalty, contradicting media reports saying he was. Silas Yatan has been reported as saying the government might bring in the death penalty following recent murders, including two woman. Continue reading
A second Melanesian country is considering the death penalty as a punishment for major crimes. Vanuatu’s Minister for Justice and Community Services, Silas Yatan, says the government may bring in the death penalty. This follows several recent killings, including the murder of two women. In May this year the Papua New Guinea Parliament adopted a Read more
Catholic Bishops have accused the PNG Government of ignoring the public debate on the death penalty and fast tracking their own agenda. Archbishop Douglas Young of Mt. Hagen said that while the Attorney General had noted that there had been widespread debate in the public forum he did not say who had won the debate. Read more
The Catholic Church in Papua New Guinea has voiced its opposition to government moves to implement the death penalty. Catholic Archbishop of Port Moresby, John Ribat, flanked by the General Secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference in PNG and Solomon Islands Fr Victor Roche, announced the church’s position at a press conference in Port Moresby Read more
The Archbishop of Port Moresby says Papua New Guinea’s government will be slow to activate its death penalty laws because of church opposition, after the Pacific nation’s attorney-general said he is revisiting the idea. Archbishop John Ribat says Attorney-General Kerenga Kua’s plan to activate the never-before-used law is the wrong way to deter crime and Read more
An ethical fund that was set up to invest in line with Catholic beliefs is to close after its managers lost faith in its ability to attract investors. JPMorgan Asset Management had hoped to attract investors who wanted exposure to investments that would not clash with tenets on issues such as birth control and civil Read more
Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday offered his support to a major international meeting underway this week through the sponsorship of the Sant’Egidio Community aimed at eliminating capital punishment:
“I greet the distinguished delegations from various countries taking part in the meeting promoted by the Community of Sant’Egidio on the theme: No Justice without Life. I express my hope that your deliberations will encourage the political and legislative initiatives being promoted in a growing number of countries to eliminate the death penalty and to continue the substantive progress made in conforming penal law both to the human dignity of prisoners and the effective maintenance of public order.”
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Africa’s future focused Pope Benedict’s attention on his second trip to the continent. In his final homily the Pope told some 50,000 packed into a stadium at Contonou and another 30,000 watching on giant screens from outside that corruption is not acceptable, AIDS is mainly an ethical problem and to seek reconciliation in the face of Read more
Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand is calling on the leaders of the four Pacific Island countries that have the death penalty to remove it from legislation. A spokesperson, Margaret Taylor, says although it’s not been practised in the Pacific in the past 30 years, the death penalty remains law in Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Nauru Read more