European Parliament resolution on the Philippines
Date: 2005-11-17
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Philippines, carrying out of sentence, death penalty, international criminal law, judicial proceedings

C 280 E/472

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

18.11.2006

Thursday 17 November 2005

15.
Expresses its hope that the terrible catastrophe, which struck the Kashmiri people hardest of all, may
bear the positive fruit of bringing the survivors closer to peace, free movement and prosperity in the near
future; applauds the governments of India and Pakistan for recent first steps towards reconciliation, which
for the first time included the Kashmiris directly in the process, and very much hopes that this is the
beginning of a steady process towards peace; calls therefore on the Indian and Pakistani governments to
continue with the process that should, while involving the population concerned, lead to a peaceful settle-
ment of the Kashmir issue;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments
16.
and parliaments of India and Pakistan, the Secretary-General of the SAARC, the NATO Secretary-General
and the UN Secretary-General.

P6_TA(2005)0443

Philippines (the sentencing to death of Francisco Larrañaga, an EU citizen)

European Parliament resolution on the Philippines

The European Parliament,

— having regard to Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

— having regard to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or

Punishment of 1984, as ratified by the Philippines on 18 June 1986,

— having regard to the Guidelines on EU policy towards third countries on the death penalty adopted by

the General Affairs Council on 29 June 1998,

— having regard to the Commission Communication of 8 May 2001 on the European Union's role in
promoting human rights and democratisation in third countries (COM(2001)0252), which identifies
the abolition of the death penalty as one of the thematic priorities for assistance under the European
Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights,

— having regard to the letters addressed on 10 May 2004 and 6 June 2005 by the former and current
Presidents of the European Parliament, Pat Cox and Josep Borrell, to the President of the Philippines,
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, asking for a review of the trial of Francisco Larrañaga,

— having regard to its previous resolutions calling for the abolition of the death penalty and for a mora-
torium on executions in the meantime, and particularly its resolution of 18 December 2003 on ‘Philip-
pines: end of the moratorium on the death penalty’ (1),

— having regard to its resolution of 28 April 2005 on the Annual Report on Human Rights in the World

2004 and the EU's policy on the matter (2),

— having regard to Rule 115 of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas former Philippines President Estrada implemented a moratorium on the death penalty in March

2000,

B. whereas current President Macapagal-Arroyo announced the lifting of this moratorium as of 1 January

2004,

C. whereas, since the death penalty was restored, in 1993 more than 1916 people have been sentenced to
death in the Philippines, and there have been seven executions; whereas at least 18 minors are still
under sentence of death for crimes committed when they were under 18, although it is laid down
clearly in the law of the Philippines that minors cannot be sentenced to death or executed,

(1) OJ C 91 E, 15.4.2004, p. 691.
(2) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2005)0150.

18.11.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 280 E/473

Thursday 17 November 2005

D. whereas amongst the prisoners currently being held under sentence of death in the Philippines is a

European citizen, Francisco Larrañaga, who is accused of rape and murder,

E. whereas despite the fact that his case has all the characteristics of an unfair trial according to inter-
national legal standards, the death sentence on Francisco Larrañaga was confirmed in July 2005 and
there are no further possibilities of appeal,

Endorses all international initiatives which would lead to the abolition of capital punishment world-
1.
wide, notably United Nations Commission on Human Rights resolution No 2005/59 on ‘The Question of
the death penalty’ and the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, Aiming at the Abolition of the Death Penalty, and reiterates its call for the universal abolition of the
death penalty, and in the meantime for a moratorium on executions;

2.
Calls on the President of the Philippines to revoke her decision to end the moratorium on the death
penalty, and urgently calls on the Philippines Congress to repeal the law on the reintroduction of the death
penalty;

Supports the legislative initiative of the Philippines Congress for the abolition of the death penalty in

3.
the Philippines;

Asks the President of the Philippines, Mrs Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, to exercise her powers by grant-
4.
ing an absolute pardon to Francisco Larrañaga and securing his immediate release from prison, as well as
commuting the death penalty of the prisoners on death row, particularly the 18 child offenders;

Calls for a review of the legal procedure leading to the death penalty in this case, and asks for a fair

5.
trial to be held on the basis of respect for all legal, penal and jurisdictional guarantees;

Calls on the Government and Parliament of the Philippine to take radical steps for the reform of the

6.
national law enforcement and criminal justice system;

Urges the Council and the Commission to take all necessary initiatives to prevent the execution of this

7.
EU citizen;

Calls on the Council and Commission to consider the abolition of the death penalty and a universal
8.
moratorium on executions as an essential element in relations between the EU and third countries, raising
this issue when concluding or renewing agreements with third countries;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission, the Government and
9.
Parliament of the Philippines, and the other governments of the Member States of the Association of South-
east Asian Nations.

P6_TA(2005)0444

Burma/Myanmar

The European Parliament,

European Parliament resolution on Burma

— having regard to the resolution on the situation of human rights in Myanmar adopted on 14 April
2005 at the 61st session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, and to the resolution on the
situation of human rights in Myanmar adopted by the UN General Assembly on 23 December 2004,

— having regard to the report of the UN Secretary-General on the situation of human rights in Myanmar

of 10 October 2005,