Jurists warn: Death penalty violates Philippines' int'l obligations

MANILA, Philippines — The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) warned the Philippines that it will violate international obligations once it revives death penalty.

In a memorandum, the ICJ said the Philippines is a state party to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights aiming to abolish death penalty. The group also cited the 1987 Constitution's bill of rights.

"The ICJ believes that if the Philippines adopts a law that re-imposes the death penalty, it will be in direct violation of its international obligations," the ICJ memorandum read.

"It (Philippines) is obliged under this international instrument not to execute anyone within its jurisdiction," it added.

The protocol effectively prohibits states from bringing back death penalty once it has been abolished in domestic laws.

Emerlynne Gil, the ICJ's senior international legal adviser for Southeast Asia, said the Philippines cannot withdraw from Second Optional Protocol, which has no denunciation or withdrawal clause.

The UN Human Rights Committee has explained that a denunciation clause was deliberately omitted because once the people are accorded the protection of the rights under the Second Optional Protocol, they shall not be deprived of such protection.

The protocol was also cited by senators opposing the proposed measure at the February 7 Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights' hearing on the revival of death penalty.

The Constitution's Article III, Section 19, meanwhile, states that:

Excessive fines shall not be imposed, nor cruel, degrading or inhuman punishment inflicted. Neither shall death penalty be imposed, unless, for compelling reasons involving heinous crimes, the Congress hereafter provides for it.

"There really is no inconsistency between the Second Optional Protocol and the Philippine Constitution,"  Gil said.

"As a general rule, the Philippine Constitution prohibits the death penalty except for compelling reasons involving heinous crimes. But in no way does it mandate that the death penalty be put into effect," she added.

Senate panel chair Sen. Richard "Dick" Gordon thereafter called for the indefinite suspension of the hearing citing the need for clarity on the ramifications on the Philippines if it reneges on its obligations.

The ICJ, which opposes the death penalty "in all cases without exception" along with human rights groups, welcomed the Senate's indefinite suspension of the hearings into the death penalty bills.

The Senate has yet to announce when it will resume its inquiry into the revival of the death penalty as it is still waiting for the Department of Justice's submission of its opinion on the protocol.