DEATH PENALTY NO DETERRENT

Re "The Singapore solution," (April 1): Dr. Gifford Jones holds to
the now-outdated view that the death penalty actually deters serious
crime. Yet scientific studies have consistently failed to find
convincing evidence that the death penalty deters crime more
effectively than any other punishment.

Despite the execution of over 400 prisoners since 1991 in Singapore
(a country approximately the size of Toronto), drug-related offences
continue. While other countries worldwide have recognized the
futility, risks and cruelty of executions to solve crime and have
become abolitionist both in practice or in law, Singapore continues
to hold the shocking record of having the highest per capita rate of
executions of any country in the world -- far higher than the rates
of China or Saudi Arabia, according to Amnesty International.

Moreover, Singapore's capital trials raise serious concerns about
their judicial fairness. For certain crimes, judges cannot take
mitigating circumstances into account and have no option but to
impose the mandatory death sentence. There is also no accounting for
the risk of error, which can lead to the execution of an innocent person.

If Dr. Gifford Jones is concerned about crime, executions are not the
answer. He needs to find a more effective and civilized solution.

Margaret John

Singapore and Malaysia

Amnesty International Canada

(He was hardly advocating Singapore's sytem)