Barbados: take the first step to ending the death penalty!

Amnesty International
In Barbados, if you are convicted of treason or murder, the only punishment you can receive by law is the death penalty. It doesn't matter what your personal circumstances are, nor the circumstances of the crime itself. In these cases, judges cannot choose between a prison or death sentence. They can only choose death. This is called the mandatory death penalty. 

The mandatory death penalty is unlawful under international law. Despite the Barbadian authorities pledging to abolish its use in 2009, they have yet to put those words into action. They continue to claim that the death penalty reduces crime, without any convincing evidence to support this.

Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago are the last two countries in the Caribbean with the mandatory death penalty. If the authorities in Barbados follow through on their promises, it would not only mean ending the mandatory death penalty in Barbados, but could encourage the Trinidadian authorities to do the same.