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Bahamas
Appeals Court President says Stop Seeking ‘Scapegoats’ |
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| NASSAU, The
Bahamas – Court of Appeal President Dame Joan Sawyer
addresses the Court, on Thursday morning (January 3,
2008), ) at the opening of the Criminal Assizes of
2008. (BIS photo: Patrick Hanna) |
January 03, 2007, NASSAU, Bahamas - President of
the Court of Appeal Dame Joan Sawyer is urging Bahamians to
stop blaming others for the escalation of crime and “accept
responsibility for what has now caught up with us.”
Dame Joan’s comments came on Thursday (January 3, 2008) at
the opening of the Criminal Assizes of 2008.
The President underscored that, as long as the mode of
dealing with crime and criminal activity is one of seeking
scapegoats or casting blame, “any real solution will remain
elusive.”
She emphasised that many persons, without weighing what they
have said, have sought to blame the Judiciary or the
particular executive branch of Government for the increase
in crime.
“In my view,” said Dame Joan, “we must stop seeking to blame
other people for what has happened to our young people in
our country, since all of us must accept our responsibility
for what has now caught up with us. |
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“Casting blame is
a useless exercise; what we should be doing is each person
or organization examining himself or itself to see whether,
and if so how, he or they may have wittingly or unwittingly
contributed to the present problems facing the country.”
The President noted that in 2007, the homicide rate climbed
to 79 in a country where the population is just a little
over 300,000 people.
Dame Joan pointed out that most of the suspects are under
the age of 30 years.
“When situations like the present ones arise,” she said,
“some people look for easy answers and immediate solutions.
Very little attention appears to be paid to the fact that
there is a training process which precedes a child becoming
a law-abiding adult or a criminal adult, coming to the
notice of the community.
“That process begins in the homes, whether humble or
aristocratic. History has not yet revealed any useful
alternatives to the process for the proper rearing of human
beings. By this I am not espousing brutalisation of children
or anyone. I speak of training.”
The President stressed that the solution to the social
problems of The Bahamas, “like those of most countries in
the world, lies in the hands of the citizenry as a whole and
not any particular group or segment.”
Dame Joan said that Bahamians should examine themselves
honestly with regards to the social ills facing this nation.
“What is required, I think, is that each man, woman, boy or
girl examine him or herself and consider whether he or she
has in any way contributed to or condoned or encouraged any
breach of the law, either with regard to themselves of other
persons,” she urged.
“And, where any of us find that we may have so acted, we
should then set out daily, hourly, minutely, to undo any
harm we may have done by neglect, and to do any right we
have failed to do and try not to repeat the wrongdoings of
the past,” said the President.
She also reminded Bahamians that life does no revolve around
any one person.
“We are all here for a limited time and we are required to
do as much good as we can each day, for no one has promised
us tomorrow. Anything else is just wishful thinking,” Dame
Joan said.
By Clunis Devaney
Bahamas Information Services
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