Civil Law and Capital Punishment

The April 15 decision of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to commute to life imprisonment the sentences of all prisoners in the Philippines facing death is an important and valuable recognition of the right to life. There are at least 1000 persons in death row who can expect to have their sentences commuted. The announcement comes after the government imposed a moratorium on executions in 2001.
The decision deserves praise; however, it still falls short of the guaranteed right to life under article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which the Philippines is a State party. The UN Human Rights Committee, which monitors compliance of the ICCPR, has noted that while
"States parties are not obliged to abolish the death penalty totally they are obliged to limit its use and, in particular, to abolish it for other than the 'most serious crimes'. Accordingly, they ought to consider reviewing their criminal laws in this light and, in any event, are obliged to restrict the application of the death penalty to the 'most serious crimes'. The article also refers generally to abolition in terms which strongly suggest that abolition is desirable. The Committee concludes that all measures of abolition should be considered as progress in the enjoyment of the right to life... Nevertheless, States' reports show that progress made towards abolishing or limiting the application of the death penalty is quite inadequate.


http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2006statements/489/