[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 19


PHILIPPINES:

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL----Public Statement


AI Index: ASA 35/003/2006 (Public)

News Service No: 098 ---- 19 April 2006


Philippines: Largest ever commutation of death sentences

Amnesty International warmly welcomes what it believes to be the largest
ever commutation of death sentences, as announced by President Arroyo on
15 April.

The move will affect at least 1,230 prisoners who have been sentenced to
death since 1994. At least 290 prisoners have had their sentences
confirmed on appeal and the policy change will benefit these people first
of all.

The Philippines has taken another important step in the long road towards
abolition, said Amnesty International. The organization now urges
President Arroyo to follow through on earlier pledges to prioritize
legislation that is currently before Congress which, if given the support
of Senators and Representatives from across the political spectrum, could
lead to the complete abolition of the death penalty in the Philippines.
The organization appeals to Congress to seize this historic opportunity
and abolish the death penalty once and for all.

Amnesty International is tomorrow also releasing its global statistics on
the death penalty. Over 40 countries have abolished the death penalty for
all crimes since 1990 and now 123 countries have abolished the death
penalty in law or in practice.

By commuting these death sentences President Arroyo is signalling the end
of the death penalty in the Philippines and is joining other governments
around the world in recognizing the brutality of the sentence, said
Amnesty International.

AI opposes the death penalty worldwide in all cases without exception as a
violation of one of the most fundamental of human rights: the right to
life. The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading
punishment. There is no escaping the risk of error that can lead to the
execution of an innocent person. Scientific studies have consistently
failed to find convincing evidence that the death penalty deters crime
more effectively than other punishments.

Moreover, in practice the death penalty is applied in an arbitrary,
selective way that falls disproportionately on the disadvantaged, the
ill-educated and those unable to afford competent legal defence; and there
is an ever-present risk of trial errors leading to the irrevocable
judicial murder of the innocent. In the Philippines, Amnesty International
is particularly concerned that the risk of judicial errors may sharply
increase due to credible reports of patterns of ill-treatment and torture
of criminal suspects in pre-trial detention by law enforcement officials
in order to coerce confessions.

Background

In 1987 the Philippines set an historic precedent by becoming the 1st
Asian country in modern times to abolish the death penalty for all crimes.

However, the death penalty was reintroduced in the Philippines in late
1993 for a total of 46 different offences. Executions resumed in 1999
after a period of 23 years. Former President Estrada in 2000 announced a
moratorium on executions, which President Arroyo has continued, in
practice, into her presidency.

Following President Arroyo's re-election in May and inauguration in July
2004, there were reports that executions would again resume. However the
President indicated she would grant a series of reprieves to those facing
imminent execution. Bills calling for the repeal of the death penalty law
have since been filed and several have been incorporated in House Bill
4826, which currently is under consideration in Congress.

(source: Amnesty International)