TNAG-0837-FCO40-1045-Capital-punishment-in-the-Dependent-Territories-1981 — Page 7

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Mr Stratto

Aton

CONFIDENTIAL

нка. 380/2

2200112

No.

en

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN THE DEPENDENT TERRITORIES

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B.U on jot'll noted

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1. In his minute of 12 September commenting on Mr Quantrill's submission of 24 August, Mr Cortazzi recommended that it would be best to let sleeping dogs lie as regards capital punishment B 18in

18 in the Dependent Territories. On 13 September Mr Burns recorded

that while the PUS was not unsympathetic to this recommendation he thought Ministers would wish to have an indication of the views of Governors before forming a view themselves.

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2.

The PUS recalled writing to Governors about capital punish- ment. I think he had in mind his letter of 4 April 1978 following

HKC380/ the previous Government's decision to defer any new policy decisions

(2) 1978

D.

in this area. This letter drew only two substantive responses. Welcoming the decision, Sir M MacLehose said that "the present situation is indefinitely sustainable, whereas any change in the abolition direction could, and probably would, result in the whole issue boiling up to the surface again". (During his recent visit to Hong Kong Mr Murray discussed the subject with the Attorney- General and was given the same message). By contrast, Mr Watson, then Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands, drew attention to the difficulties which the present situation created for Governors of small territories and urged the imposition of abolition by legislative action in the UK.

As a

3. The Governors of the Caribbean territories discussed capital punishment at their conference in Barbados last January. result Mr Posnett (then Dependent Territories Adviser) was commissioned to write a paper recording their general views. He produced the first draft of this paper during the spring and sent it to the Governors who attended the conference for their comments. The exercise had not been completed by the time Mr Posnett left for Kampala and some of the replies were mislaid. We have therefore consulted the Governors concerned again (and also the Governor of Bermuda who was not present at the conference).

w/26) They have confirmed their agreement with the views expressed in

attached paper.

4. I do not think that the paper itself is suitable for submission to Ministers because:-

a) it is rather long and retraces much of the ground

covered in Mr Quantrill's submission;

b) it was originally drafted before the change of government and inevitably harks back to the

difficulties caused by the previous administration's failure to grasp the nettle;

CONFIDENTIAL

/c)