Very few issues have divided a nation as much as talk of the death penalty even within The Bahamas Christian Council, there are strong held views on both sides of the divide.

The controversial death penalty has a proponent but, for Christian Council President Bishop Delton Fernander, it’s not just about throwing support behind the capital punishment.

It is   a matter of how it can be administered and he is  leaning on the side of lethal injection.

Bishop Fernander said, “If the law is on the book and if the person fits the category and has gone through all of the appeals, I am always one for clemency. 

“As we are seeing today the system can be skewed towards those who have money and those who do not have money and these things should be taken very seriously and it should be the last resort.”   

The Christian Council President’s comments follow those of Executive Director of “Together Against the Death Penalty” Raphael Chenuil-Hazan, who recently urged the Minnis-administration to break away from the death penalty as well as what he called the fake solidarity that seems to be preventing The Bahamas from becoming an abolitionist state.

Mr. Chenuil- Hazan also believed keeping the law and not using it is a bad practice. Bishop Fernander thinks such comments are misguided. 

“I think he is far removed from the Caribbean and when he comes to The Bahamas and begins those conversations,  he will see the reality that on the ground it isn’t fake, there is a serious support for the death penalty in the Bahamas. 

“Now some may be moving away from hanging and more towards a calling for lethal injection, but the laws will have to be changed for that to take place.  I believe when he comes to The Bahamas, that it’s not fake, there is a real support for the death penalty, “ said Bishop Fernander. 

Then there are the concerns of international bodies possibly shunning The Bahamas for using the death penalty. To that, Bishop Fernander said small developing countries like The Bahamas tend to be bullied.

“They haven’t really found the secret to working with third world nations, which is education, coming along, empowering, getting involved in the societies; that’s how you change mindsets, that’s how you change a nations view of something.

“It’s not coming in like that bully in the classroom that puts you in the classroom and say give me your lunch money or else we’re going to beat you; and that’s always the stick they hold over us.

“They say we’re going to cut you out of this if you don’t sign this and I think the temperature in The Bahamas has changed tremendously towards international organizations,” he said.   

David Mitchell was the last man executed in The Bahamas in 2000. Mitchell was convicted of killing two German tourists.