CHR chief urges China to reconsider its death penalty law

On the day that three Filipinos were executed in China for drug trafficking, Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairperson Loretta "Etta" Rosales on Wednesday urged the Chinese government to reconsider its position about death penalty. In a statement, Rosales said "death penalty should have no rightful place in any legal system." "We hope... the Chinese government will abide by the progressive norm of international law imposing an absolute obligation on States to prohibit capital punishment," said Rosales, a Martial Law victim and former party-list lawyer advocating human rights. Rosales said it was never too late to reform laws "to respect human dignity." "More than I respect your laws, I respect the fundamental right to life of every human being. Life trumps all laws that are but man-made," she said. Execution of three Pinoys On Wednesday, three Filipinos were executed by lethal injection in China after being convicted for drug trafficking. Two of the convicted Filipinos, Sally Ordinario-Villanueva and Ramon Credo, were subjected to lethal injections in Xiamen. The third Filipino, Elizabeth Batain, was executed in Shenzhen. The three Filipinos — Credo, 42; Batain, 38; and Villanueva, 32 — were originally scheduled to be executed on February 20 and 21 this year. The executions were put on hold after the humanitarian visit to Beijing of Binay, who is also the presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers’ concerns. Extending sympathies In her statement, Rosales gave her statement as she extended her sympathies to the families of the three convicted Filipinos in China who were executed on Wednesday. Rosales said the three Filipinos became "victims" twice. She said they first fell prey to drug trafficking syndicates operating in the Philippines by offering them jobs abroad but using them, without their knowledge, to smuggle illegal drugs into China. She said the three Filipinos also became victims of the "inflexibilities of the Chinese criminal justice system." Problem of poverty Rosales also blamed the Philippine government for failing to rid the country of poverty, which causes people to become victims of drug trafficking, among other social problems. Ordinario-Villanueva was convicted for smuggling 4,110 grams of heroin on Dec. 24, 2008 into Xiamen, while Credo was convicted for smuggling 4,113 grams of heroin on Dec. 28, 2008 in the same city. Batain, meanwhile, was convicted for smuggling 6,800 grams of heroin on May 24, 2008, in Shenzhen. Under the Chinese criminal code, smuggling of 50 grams of heroin or any narcotic drug into China is punishable by death. – VVP, GMA News