Hotline Asia Urgent Appeals -- UA990215(3)

Action Requested || Sample Letter || Background

Summary

On 5th February 1999, the first execution was carried out in the Philippines in 23 years since the death penalty was reintroduced in December 1993. Mr. Leo Pilo Echegaray, 38, was put to death by lethal injection. There is genuine fear that the case will 'open the door' to the use of capital punishment to subdue political dissent or result in the death of many innocent people in the Philippines.

Please send polite letters to the Philippine Government and:

1. express your concern and opposition to the death penalty law in the Philippines that violates basic human rights;
2. urge the Government to review the Death Penalty Law and immediately take steps towards its abolishment.

Sample Letter

Background

Mr. Leo Pilo Echegaray was sentenced to death in September 1994 by the Supreme Court for raping his then 10 year-old stepdaughter. He was originally scheduled to be put to death on 4th January 1999.

• 3rd December 1998: the Senate approved a Resolution No. 305 that suggested President Estrada should commute the death sentence for Mr. Echegaray or defer the execution for two years. Mr. Estrada ignored the suggestion of the Senate's decision to commute the sentence.

• 4th January 1999: the Supreme Court granted Mr. Echegaray's appeal and postponed his execution till 15th June 1999 with the controversial Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), in consideration of a bill pending in Congress which would review the law allowing capital punishment.

• 19th January 1999: the Congress voted to not consider reviewing the Death Penalty Law. The Supreme Court had to lift the TRO.

• 22nd January 1999: the Secretary of Justice Serafin Cuevas announced that the sentence would be carried out and the Regional Trial Court set the date of the execution for 5th February 1999.
  

Opposition against the death penalty has come from across the country in recent months as the execution date of Mr. Echegaray drew nearer. Human rights groups, the Catholic Church, the Vatican, Canada and the European Union appealed to President Estrada to abolish capital punishment but these efforts were unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, the death sentences of eleven more convicts have been confirmed by the Supreme Court and they are scheduled to be executed within this year. Four of them are expected to be executed by April. Three were sentenced for robbery with homicide while the other one was sentenced for rape with homicide.

DEATH PENALTY LAW AGAINST BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS

When the death penalty was restored in the Philippines in December 1993, human rights groups and churches expressed their deep concern and opposition to it. It is claimed that death penalty is the ultimate form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and is a violation of the most fundamental human right to life, as proclaimed in Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. By virtue of the Philippine Government's membership in the United Nation, they are committed to upholding the principles Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The risk of error in applying the death penalty is inescapable, yet the penalty is irrevocable. In addition, the overwhelming conclusion from studies on the topic is that there is no reliable evidence that the death penalty has any significant deterrent effect on crime.

Nevertheless, the resumption of the use of the death penalty is being justified by the Philippine Government as a deterrent to rising criminality. According to sources, there are currently 864 condemned criminals on death row, of which more than half have been sentenced to death for crimes involving rape.

The Philippines has one of the highest number of prisoners on the death row in the world. The death sentence is applicable for 46 offences in the Philippines and is mandatory for 21. Instead of introducing the death penalty to combat serious crime, many concerned groups remarked that the real need is to address the root causes of crimes and ensure an effective judicial system.

THE DEATH PENALTY LAW IN THE PHILIPPINES

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