Seven of the twenty-two persons on Death Row at the Georgetown Prisons who have been read death warrants cannot be executed until the court challenges they mounted have been resolved.
Information Liaison to the President Robert Persaud says that the government is committed to the use of the death penalty as provided for in the constitution.
However, he says the executions cannot be carried out because the stay of execution the convicted murderers obtained on ex parte applications are still to be determined by the courts.
The last execution was carried out in 1997.
Among those who have mounted challenges are Noel Thomas, Rovindra Deo, Michael Chan, Oral Hendricks, Ganga Deolall and Raymond Persaud.
Thomas, along with partner in crime, Abdool Yasseen now deceased, has been waging a more than decade-long battle to avoid execution, including challenging the appointment of four of the judges on the Court of Appeal on the grounds that their appointments were not made in accordance with the advice of the Judicial Service Commission.
Counsel for Yasseen and Thomas are Nigel Hughes and Stephen Fraser. Among the counsel for the others is Rex McKay SC.
They also appealed to the United Nations Human Rights Committee under the Convenant on Civil and Political Rights. The committee had recommended they be released but the government rejected the recommendation and subsequently withdrew from the convention before rejoining, albeit with a reservation.
The government’s withdrawal and later re-entry with reservation closed off this avenue of appeal.
The other convicts obtained stays of execution pending the resolution of the motions challenging their execution.
These cases, Stabroek News understands, are now before Justice Jainarayan Singh. One of the ex parte orders has been made interlocutory and is down for hearing.
Among the grounds on which the convicted murderers have challenged their executions are that the death penalty is unconstitutional and that the length of time that they have been on death row constitutes cruel and inhumane treatment, that is prohibited by the constitution.