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'Frustration' over rising crimes to blame for death penalty calls: Amnesty Int'l

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Arianne Merez, ABS-CBN News

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JMfYmIfRTBc" width="560"></iframe></figure>The public’s “frustration” over the rising number of crimes in the country has led to an appreciation of short-cut solutions such as the death penalty, a human rights group said.Amnesty International (AI) Philippines Chairperson Ritz Lee Santos III said Filipinos have been experiencing feelings of “frustration and dismay” over the rise of crime incidents, from petty crimes to heinous crimes, which makes them think that reviving the death penalty is the best solution.“They tend to appreciate these shortcut solutions because there is a lack of understanding, appreciation on what human rights, human dignity is all about,” he said in an interview on “Mornings @ ANC.”On Wednesday, the justice committee of the House of Representatives voted 12-6-1 approving a committee report on the consolidated bill for the reimposition of death penalty.<ul class="op-related-articles" title="Read">	<li>READ: <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/07/16/house-committee-oks-measure-to-revive-death-penalty">House committee OKs measure to revive death penalty</a></li></ul>According to Santos, research shows that there is no guarantee that death penalty will deter crimes, and it may even lead to an increase in criminal incidents.He said if the public is educated well enough on the concepts of human rights, they can make informed choices on what is right and what is wrong.“We believe if the public is educated on the basics, even the concepts of human rights, they will appreciate that due process is very important. Some human rights cannot be taken away regardless of the situation,” he said.On Thursday, the human rights watchdog presented an 11-point <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/08/16/no-guarantee-death-penalty-will-deter-crime-amnesty-international">legislative agenda</a> making the case against the death penalty which includes a call to address extra-judicial killings in the country.Even though there is no proof of state-sponsored killings, Santos said President Rodrigo Duterte should take command responsibility for the thousands of alleged extra-judicial killings since the deaths are happening under his term.“We are not saying that he (Duterte) actually gave an order to kill drug pushers and drug addicts but we also have the command responsibility principle. It is happening during his term right now so we are hoping, expecting, that he gives a statement against condoning these killings,” he said.He also urged the President to create an independent investigative group to look into the thousands of extrajudicial killings which the group claims is more than the total number of killings during the decade-long martial law period.&quot;It seems that we are having breakfast on the dead bodies that we are seeing everyday,&quot; he said.

The public’s “frustration” over the rising number of crime incidents in the country has led to an appreciation of shortcut solutions such as the death penalty, a human rights group said.

The public’s “frustration” over the rising number of crime incidents in the country has led to an appreciation of shortcut solutions such as the death penalty, a human rights group said.

'Frustration' over rising crimes to blame for death penalty calls: Amnesty Int'l

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'Frustration' over rising crimes to blame for death penalty calls: Amnesty Int'l

Arianne Merez,

ABS-CBN News

Published December 09, 2016 03:57 PM PHT

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Updated December 12, 2016 12:07 PM PHT

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