The will soon submit the framework to Cabinet for discussion.

The justice minister, Kerenga Kua, says members of government will debate the details of the policy once it is is written.

He says the government will have the final say on which execution method will be used: lethal injection, firing squad, deprivation of oxygen, hanging, or electrocution.

Kua said it was very important to introduce the death penalty in PNG despite "dissenting views from foreign governments...and human rights groups".

"The state in its own sovereign right has determined to go ahead with this process".

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea strongly opposes the introduction of the death penalty

Kua claims that just having the debate on the death penalty had already prevented many "gruesome crimes" and deterred many would-be criminals.

However last year the Archbishop of Mount Hagan, Douglas Young, said, "The evidence continues to show us the death penalty is not a deterrent to violent crime,"

He pointed out that evidence from nations where capital punishment continues to be practiced, the majority of those who commit violent crimes do not think they will be caught with even more of this number believing that even if they are caught, they will not be sentenced and condemned to die.

At the same time, Jack de Groot, CEO of Caritas Australia said "The death penalty equates to state-sponsored violence and will not change anything,"

"We have long known there is no point using violence as a means of preventing violence," he says and insists that rather than expand and update the nation's death penalty law which has not been enforced since 1954, PNG needs to confront the reality of its struggle with violent crime and find solutions that work.

There are 13 prisoners on death row in Papua New Guinea at the moment, some of whom have been awaiting execution for more than a decade.

Source

• Radio New Zealand International
• Pacific Media Centre
• Sydney Catholic
• Image: s3.amazonaws.com

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 compiled from these visits and I would like to ensure the people of Papua New Guinea that we will be passing legislation for the extreme penalty's usage soon," he said in response to a question.

Kua said the legislation was only directed at a small group of people and that the "mainstream of society did not need to be too concerned about the implications of the death penalty".

"If implemented properly, it should add to creating a more orderly and peaceful society that our people will enjoy," he said.

The last person put to death in PNG was a man called Aro in 1957, 18 years before PNG gained independence from Australia.

The last known execution in the pacific region was in Tonga in 1982, according to Amnesty International.

Source

• news.com.au
• MSN News
• Image: elitedaily.com

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 may encourage payback as families seek revenge for an execution.

"The payback system can escalate. Killing will give rise to more killing," he said.

The General secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Conference in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, Fr Victor Roche, has also expressed concern at the suggestion made by the Attorney-General

Roche said the church supported the dignity of a human person and a death penalty would deny that if implemented.
"The death penalty is not the answer to the law and order problems in our country," he said.

The view against death penalty is also shared by National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop.
The human rights lawyer argued that there was no proof that capital punishment was the model to monitor successfully law and order problems in a society.

Source

• Social Concerns -A Commission of the Catholic Bishops' Conference PNG/SI
• News.com.au
• Image: Resources MMC.org