EUROPEAN UNION. EU HAILS PHILIPPINE LEADER'S RESTRAINT ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

April 4, 2006: the European Union welcomed Philippine President Gloria Arroyo's decision to commute the sentences of dozens of inmates on death row.
The move should give Arroyo, a devout Roman Catholic, breathing space when working with Congress to put in place legislation repealing capital punishment, said EU envoy to Manila Jan de Kok.
"We have seen over the last few months a very large number of cases of people on death row, where their sentences have been changed to life imprisonment, that in itself is welcome," de Kok told reporters on the sidelines of a human rights forum in Manila. He said the EU would continue to press for the abolition of the death penalty for so-called "heinous crimes" including rape and murder. (Sources: Agence France Presse, 04/04/2006)