World Coalition Against the Death Penalty

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World Coalition Against the Death Penalty
Founded13 May 2002;21 years ago (2002-05-13)
Type INGO
Headquarters Montreuil, France
Location
  • Global
Services Human rights advocacy
FieldsLegal advocacy
Matthew James Goldberg
Aurélie Plaçais
Website worldcoalition.org

The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty is an international alliance of NGOs, bar associations, local governments and trade unions that aims to strengthen the international dimension of political opposition to capital punishment.

Contents

Objective and funding

Founded in May 2002, the World Coalition is an association of more than 180 member organizations advocating for the abolition of capital punishment worldwide.

The World Coalition facilitates lobbying after international organizations and states and organizes events of international concern. It contributes to commemorating the World Day Against the Death Penalty every 10th of October. The World Coalition also encourages the creation of national or regional coalitions against the death penalty to strengthen initiatives taken in this regard.

The World Coalition is funded by its members’ contributions, the European Union, and some European governments, such as those of Belgium and Switzerland. Other institutional funders also provide financial resources for some specific projects.

Creation

On 22 June 2001, participants to the first World Congress Against the Death Penalty, an event held by French non-government organization (NGO) Ensemble contre la peine de mort, [1] adopted the Strasbourg Declaration in the hemicycle of the Council of Europe. In paragraph 9, the signatories committed to “creat[ing] a world-wide co-ordination of abolitionist associations and campaigners, whose first goal will be to launch a world-wide day for the universal abolition of the death penalty”.

After several preparatory meetings in Paris and Brussels, organizations convened in Rome on 13 May 2002 to officially create the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. A first Steering Committee composed of 11 members, in charge of defining the World Coalition’s political strategy, was elected then renewed at each General Assembly.

Since 2008, the World Coalition has been registered as an association under French law.

Campaigns

World Day Against the Death Penalty

The World Coalition has made 10th of October the World Day Against the Death Penalty. The first occurrence of this annual event was celebrated in 2003. In 2007, the Committee of Ministries of the Council of Europe declared that a European Day Against the Death Penalty also be held every 10th of October, coinciding with the World Day. [2]

The World Day Against the Death Penalty aims to unite local initiatives in favor of abolition. Since 2005, every World Day has focused on a specific issue, which is selected and defined by the World Coalition:

International and regional protocols on the abolition

Since 2007, the World Coalition has been committed to a pluriannual campaign that encourages new states to ratify the Second Optional Protocol, an international treaty appended to the 1989 UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that aims at the abolition of the death penalty.

The World Coalition also supports the accession to regional protocols aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. In this regard, the World Coalition has released a joint statement with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in 2020. [3] [4]

United Nations Moratorium on executions

Since 2007, the World Coalition has been encouraging United Nations member states to vote in favor of the resolution of the UN General Assembly on a moratorium on executions. The resolution was adopted for the first time in 2007 [5] and has been submitted to the vote of the General Assembly every other year since 2008.

Securing abolition of capital punishment

The World Coalition helps its members organize initiatives and advocacy missions to prevent abolitionist countries from restoring capital punishment in law or carrying out new executions.

Increasing knowledge on the death penalty

The World Coalition and its network have committed to gathering and sharing information on capital punishment. The World Coalition’s partnership with the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide, that is associated with the Cornell University, has contributed to developing a database on the use of the death penalty around the world. The World Coalition also partners with institutes with a view to conducting survey, such as the one carried out by the GAMAAN Institute in September 2020. [6]

Related Research Articles

Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned practice of killing a person as a punishment for a crime, usually following an authorised, rule-governed process to conclude that the person is responsible for violating norms that warrant said punishment. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in such a manner is known as a death sentence, and the act of carrying out the sentence is known as an execution. A prisoner who has been sentenced to death and awaits execution is condemned and is commonly referred to as being "on death row". Etymologically, the term capital refers to execution by beheading, but executions are carried out by many methods, including hanging, shooting, lethal injection, stoning, electrocution, and gassing.

Cities for Life Day is a worldwide festivity that supports the abolition of the death penalty. It is celebrated on November 30 of each year—the day in 1786 that the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, under the reign of Pietro Leopoldo, became the first civil state in the world to do away with torture and capital punishment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in Switzerland</span> Overview of the observance of human rights in Switzerland

Human rights are largely respected in Switzerland, one of Europe's oldest democracies. Switzerland is often at or near the top in international rankings of civil liberties and political rights observance. Switzerland places human rights at the core of the nation's value system, as represented in its Federal Constitution. As described in its FDFA's Foreign Policy Strategy 2016-2019, the promotion of peace, mutual respect, equality and non-discrimination are central to the country's foreign relations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Europe</span>

Capital punishment has been completely abolished in all European countries except for Belarus and Russia, the latter of which has a moratorium and has not carried out an execution since September 1996. The complete ban on capital punishment is enshrined in both the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (EU) and two widely adopted protocols of the European Convention on Human Rights of the Council of Europe, and is thus considered a central value. Of all modern European countries, San Marino, Portugal, and the Netherlands were the first to abolish capital punishment, whereas only Belarus still practises capital punishment in some form or another. In 2012, Latvia became the last EU member state to abolish capital punishment in wartime.

Capital punishment in Georgia was completely abolished on 1 May 2000 when the country signed Protocol 6 to the ECHR. Later Georgia also adopted the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR. Capital punishment was replaced with life imprisonment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Resolutions concerning death penalty at the United Nations</span> United Nations General Assembly resolution adopted in 2007

At Italy's instigation, a resolution for a moratorium on the death penalty was presented by the European Union in partnership with eight co-author member States to the General Assembly of the United Nations, calling for general suspension of capital punishment throughout the world. It was twice affirmed: first, on 15 November 2007 by the Third Committee, and then subsequently reaffirmed on 18 December by the United Nations General Assembly resolution 62/149. New Zealand played a central role facilitating agreement between the co-author group and other supporters.

Capital punishment has been abolished in Mongolia since 2016, following a previous eight-year moratorium.

Capital punishment is no longer applied in San Marino: the last execution was carried out in 1468 or in 1667, by hanging.

Capital punishment in Nauru was used prior to its independence in 1968. Prior to the abolition of capital punishment on 12 May 2016, with the passage of the Crimes Act 2016, Amnesty International categorised Nauru as a state that was abolitionist in practice.

Capital punishment in Lesotho is legal. However, despite not having any official death penalty moratorium in place, the country has not carried out any executions since the 1990s and is therefore considered de facto abolitionist.

Capital punishment in Chile is legally sanctioned, albeit with significant limitations. Since its abolition for civilian offenses in 2001, its application has been restricted to military personnel convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during wartime. This places Chile among the seven countries globally that have abolished capital punishment solely for ordinary crimes.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Grenada. Despite its legality, there have been no executions since 1978. Grenada is considered "abolitionist in practice", and is currently the only country in the Americas in this category. There is currently one person on death row in Grenada, as of August 30, 2021. During its United Nations Universal Periodic Review on January 27, 2020, Grenada informed the UN that it was a de facto abolitionist state with a de facto moratorium in effect since 1978, and that it would not carry out any executions. Abolishing capital punishment in law was part of one of the amendments during the failed 2016 Grenadian constitutional referendum. Grenada voted against the United Nations moratorium on the death penalty in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, and most recently, in 2020. Grenada is not a signatory to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Capital punishment is abolished in Argentina and is no longer a lawful punishment in the country. Argentina abolished capital punishment for ordinary crimes in 1984 and abolished it for all crimes in 2008, supported by the president at the time, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Argentina voted in favor of the United Nations moratorium on the death penalty eight times, in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020. Argentina signed the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on 20 Dec 2006 and ratified it on 2 Sep 2008.

Capital punishment in Gabon was officially abolished for all crimes in 2010. Gabon's last execution took place in 1985. Prior to abolition, Gabon was classified as de facto abolitionist, or "abolitionist in practice," due to the length of time since their last execution.

Capital punishment was abolished in Mauritius in 1995, following the adoption of the Abolition of Death Penalty Act 1995. The last execution was carried out in Mauritius in 1987.

Capital punishment was abolished in Mozambique in 1990. The last execution took place in the country in 1986.

Capital punishment was abolished in Namibia in 1990. The last execution was carried out in 1988, under the rule of South Africa.

Capital punishment was abolished in Senegal in 2004. The country carried out its last execution in 1967.

Capital punishment was abolished in Togo in 2009. The country carried out its last execution in 1978. Prior to the death penalty's de jure abolition, Togo was classified as "Abolitionist in Practice."

Ethiopia retains capital punishment while not ratified the Second Optional Protocol (ICCR) of UN General Assembly resolution. Historically, capital punishments was codified under Fetha Negest in order to fulfill societal desire. Death penalty can be applied through approval of the President, but executions are rare.

References

  1. ↑ "Peine de mort, l'appel de Strasbourg". Nouvelobs.com (in French). Retrieved 23 November 2020..
  2. ↑ "10 October - European Day against Death Penalty". Counsel of Europe. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  3. ↑ "The IACHR Stresses Its Call for the Abolition of the Death Penalty in the Americas On the World Day Against the Death Penalty". Organization of American States. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  4. ↑ "Joint Letter with the IACHR" (PDF). World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  5. ↑ "General Assembly Adopts Landmark Text Calling For Moratorium on Death Penalty". United Nations. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  6. ↑ "Iranian's Attitudes Toward the Death Penalty: A 2020 Survey Report" (PDF). Iran Human Rights. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
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