Kingston - In a move to clear the way for resumption of executions, Jamaica has announced it will withdraw from the protocol to the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The withdrawal, announced late on Thursday, means death row inmates have one less international body to which they can appeal against their convictions. The government says appeals to the UN human rights committee were dragging out the legal process beyond the five-year period set in a landmark 1994 ruling by the British Privy Council, the final court of appeal for many of Britain's former colonies.