International rights group asks China to spare Filipino

MANILA, Philippines—Amnesty International has joined calls for China to stop the scheduled December 8 execution of a Filipino convicted of drug trafficking, and to remove “non-lethal offenses” from a list of crimes punishable by death in China.

“We express serious concern that China scheduled another execution of a person convicted of non-lethal crime, such as drug trafficking, which contravenes international law,” AI Philippines director Aurora Parong said, calling on China to “stop the execution.”

The Supreme People’s Court in Beijing upheld a lower court’s decision imposing the death penalty on the 35-year-old Filipino for smuggling 1.5 kilograms of heroin. President Benigno Aquino has appealed for the commutation of the death sentence to life imprisonment.

Parong also pressed China and other states to impose the death penalty only on  the “most serious crimes.’’

“In March this year, China executed three Filipinos convicted of drug offenses, too.  We call on the authorities in China to stop the execution and remove non-lethal offenses as crimes that merit the death sentence,” she said in a statement posted on the AI Web site.

In March, China executed Filipino workers Ramon Credo, Sally Ordinario-Villanueva and Elizabeth Batain following their 2009 conviction of smuggling heroin, despite last-minute appeals by Philippine leaders.

China lists 55 offenses that carry the death penalty and the exact number of executions is not known. The United Nations General Assembly has endorsed resolutions which state that the scope of application of the death penalty should not go beyond intentional crimes with lethal consequences, AI said.

Parong asked Aquino to appeal to other Asian leaders to abolish the death penalty, which AI said is cruel and inhumane and does not deter crime.

“We call on our government to apply stricter rules on drugs within the country and the airports and generate more decent jobs so that Filipinos will have options to earn income for their families. We call on President Aquino to convince leaders of neighboring countries, particularly in Asia, to take efforts toward the abolition of the death penalty— this will be a great legacy in human rights,” she said.

Asian countries which have the death penalty include Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore,  Thailand, Pakistan, Vietnam and North Korea, according to AI.