§ Sir WILLIAM BYLESasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that the number of executions following death sentences in Cyprus was in 1908 two, in 1909 seven, in 1910 ten, and in 1911 six, amounting to an average of over six per annum, being at the annual rate of one in every 45,000 of the population; and whether he will inquire into the cause of this unusual development of capital punishment in Cyprus?
Mr. HARCOURTThe number of executions in Cyprus is due to the prevalence of homicidal crime in the island, for which death is the penalty provided by law. The cause of this prevalence must be looked for in the general insecurity of life and property which existed in Cyprus for many centuries prior to the British occupation; and the remedy must be sought, partly in the vigorous enforcement of the law, and partly in the improved education of the people. Both these remedies are being pursued, and I am glad to say that in52W 1912 it was only necessary to exact the extreme penalty on two occasions.
§ Sir W. BYLESasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that the average number of executions following death sentences in Fiji during the four years 1908 to 1911, inclusive, amounted to over seven per annum, being at the annual rate of one in 20,000 of the population, and that, during these four years, not a single capital sentence was commuted; and whether he will inquire into the circumstances which have placed Fiji in a unique position among Crown Colonies both in respect of the comparative frequency of executions and especially of the non-commutation of any capital sentence?
Mr. HARCOURTThe figures given by my hon. Friend are correct, but in 1911 there was one, and in 1912 there were two commutations of death sentences. I am already in correspondence with the Governor on the subject of the frequency of death sentences in Fiji, as I informed the hon. Member for Peterborough on the 17th March.