Parliamentary Questions

WRITTEN QUESTION

Submission: Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Commission

(22 October 2003)

A recent report by Amnesty International reveals that, in the Philippines, there are children detainees in prisons who have been sentenced to death and are awaiting their execution. According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which the Philippines has signed, as well as the national law of the country, child offenders – those who committed the offense before reaching the age of 18 – cannot be sentenced to death or executed. It is, therefore, clear that the practice followed by the state of the Philippines violates both national and international law.

The Committee is asked what actions it intends to take in order to pressure the government of the Philippines to fully adopt and implement the limitations on penalties for child offenders as prescribed by national and international law.