The Commission on Human Rights on Thursday welcomed the United Nations General Assembly resolution on the Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty.
The Philippines is one of the 123 UN member states that voted in favor of the resolution on Dec. 16, with 38 member states against the resolution and 24 who abstained, Commissioner Karen Gomez-Dumpit said.
“The Commission recognizes this positive development particularly with the Philippine vote, which signals the government veering away from the reintroduction of the death penalty,” she said.
“The vote is also a visible indication that on this issue the government can change course to correct its position and deliver its commitments as a State Party to international human rights treaties including the Second Optional Protocol on Civil and Political Rights.”
Gomez-Dumpit said globally, there was a trend toward the abolition of the death penalty.
Since 2007, UN member states have called for a moratorium on the death penalty, and the 2020 UN resolution presents an increase of the states voting encouragingly for a moratorium.
“The CHR is resolutely opposed to the death penalty and its re-imposition. We are strongly advocating against the death penalty bills tabled in Congress, and we have released advisories and research studies advising government of its treaty obligations,” she said.
“We presented empirical data and evidenced-based findings of capital punishment not having a place in the justice system. International human rights mechanisms such as the UN Treaty Bodies, Special Procedures and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights have called the attention of the Philippine government on its position on the reintroduction of the death penalty.
“The June 2020 OHCHR report on the Human Rights Situation in the Philippines highlighted this concern and recommended that the government reconsider its legislative agenda in light of its human rights obligations. The CHR continues to support these calls from the UN Bodies and has recommended in its interventions in the Human Rights Council to remove death penalty from the legislative agenda of the Philippine government.”