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STEPPING BACK TOWARD DEATH: CRIME, SUICIDE, AND POLITICS IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.

Article Excerpt
Reeling under rising indices of violent crime, Dominicans are embracing restoration of the death penalty. An April poll in the newspaper Hoy found that more than 67% of respondents favor a return to capital punishment, at least in the case of rapists, where the victim is a child. The question arose in the context of legislative elections set for May 16. At least two candidates have centered their campaigns on hardening sentences for murder and rape convictions.

Police sources have said that, in the last 12 months, cases of kidnap, murder, and rape have risen from an average of two a day nationally to five. Congressional candidate Luisin Jimenez has advocated the death penalty. "The crime rate the country is recording and the professionalism criminals now have require more severe sanctions," said Jimenez.

The surprisingly high percentage of citizens who approve of killing these offenders appears to have turned away from the premise that rising criminality is secondary to lack of opportunity.

University professor Belarminio Ramirez Morillo defends that viewpoint. "Anyone with a bit of sense knows that the principal factor generating all this [crime] is unemployment," he said. "With the panorama of economic uncertainty, violence will continue increasing, and the death penalty will not be the remedy."

The maximum allowable sentence in the Dominican Republic now is 30 years. Some who...

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