Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-12-18-Speech-4-178"

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"en.20031218.8.4-178"2
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"Mr President, the death penalty is an abomination. It is a mediaeval phenomenon that was used by governments that were unable to guard their prisoners and therefore killed them before they could escape. In the present day, however, it is even worse; and the death penalty phenomenon is at its worst when it is used as a political instrument by governments against their opponents. The Philippines has a past history that has been a constant source of violence, and those problems are still unresolved today. This is clear even from the history of the past hundred years: the takeover of the Spanish colonies by the United States in 1898, followed by a kind of self-determination in 1946, and then the assumption of power by governments that ruled the population in a very dictatorial manner, notably the long-standing Marcos dictatorship. Since then, there have only been weak governments. There may have been changes of president, but with a powerful army in the background, and with no regard being paid to opponents, and still less to independence movements, movements that envisaged a future outside the Philippines or in a loose alliance with the other parts of the Philippines. As a result, the Philippines is constantly beset by various forms of guerrilla warfare. In the Philippines of today, the left wing may have a three-strong representation in parliament, but this is actually there semi-legally, whilst other parts of the same left wing are regarded as terrorist organisations. Under these circumstances, the death penalty is a highly dangerous instrument in the hands of a government that refuses to listen to diverging opinions and stands in the way of alternative solutions. Meanwhile, the succession of governments of the Philippines of recent times has never succeeded in solving the major problems of poverty, deprivation, oppression and violence. Everything possible should be done, from both outside and within, to give the Philippines a peaceful and prosperous future, and that cannot be done by means of the death penalty."@en1

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