CHR: PH breached int’l treaty
Members of women’s group Gabriela and other cause oriented group celebrates women’s day under President Duterte’s administration in a mass rally at Bonifacio shrine in Manila. The group then march from Bonifacio Shrine to Mendiola.
INQUIRER PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC
The Philippines has to answer for the “blatant breach” of international treaties with the House of Representatives’ approval of the death penalty bill, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said on Wednesday.
The CHR said it was “impermissible for the Philippines to withdraw from those treaties.”
“In view of the absolute nature of these treaties, the enactment of the current legislative measure is a blatant breach of international law and constitutes an internationally wrongful act subject to international responsibility,” it said.
Drug-related offenses are not considered “most serious crimes” under United Nations statutes, the CHR said. “Jurisprudence on most serious crimes do not include narcotics crimes.”
The New York-based Human Rights Watch said: “Now the Philippines will have the dubious distinction of becoming the first party to the protocol (to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) to restore the death penalty.” —DONA Z. PAZZIBUGAN
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