PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad Trinidad and Tobago's attorney general on Friday accused Amnesty International of trying to "destabilize" Caribbean countries that use the death penalty.
"It is clear that Amnesty International is involved in a political act to destabilize Caribbean countries by using the death penalty as a human rights issue and is of the view that by doing this, it can coerce these countries to abolish the death penalty," Attorney General Ramesh Maharaj said.
He was speaking after the London-based human rights group said Russell Sankarali, who was executed last year for murdering a family of four, did not receive a fair trial.
In its 2000 annual report on Trinidad and Tobago, Amnesty said Maharaj had received new information about Sankarali's trial, casting doubt on its fairness. Maharaj said records showed "without a shadow of a doubt" that Sankarali exhausted all legal and constitutional avenues of recourse.
"As we can clearly see, Amnesty International, for reasons known only to them, has painted a biased and erroneous picture of Trinidad and Tobago's commitment in upholding and protecting fundamental human rights," said Maharaj.
Trinidad and several other Caribbean nations have executed convicted criminals in recent years.
Polls show most of their citizens approve of capital punishment as the small nations face growing crime rates, but their governments have faced a strong criticism from international human rights groups and some European countries, including former Caribbean colonial power Britain.
(Reuter)