Academic Program

3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Plenary session
Business and the death penalty
European Parliament hemicycle		 
Plenary session: Business and the death penalty

27 February 2019 – 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. – European Parliament Hemicycle

Can business become a new ally in the abolitionist movement? To encourage this collaboration, representatives from the private sector will demonstrate the various ways in which they are committed to combating capital punishment. This plenary session will also be an opportunity to consider the inclusion of abolition on the agenda of the business and human rights movements.

OPENING REMARKS: Antonio Panzeri, Chair of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights - Italy

SPEAKERS:

  • Richard Branson, Entrepreneur, Founder of Virgin Group – United Kingdom
  • Carleen Pickard, Ethical Campaigns Specialist, LUSH Cosmetics - Canada
  • Nadia Benhida, Executive Director, Zino Mar – Morocco
  • Emmanuel Oudar, CEO, Tout terrain, ECPM Board member - France
  • Sune Skadegård Thorsen, CEO, Global CSR, expert in Corporate Social Responsibility - Denmark
  • Githu Muigai, Member of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights
  • Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner for Trade, European Union

Find the descriptions and speakers of each academic debate under this table.

9.30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Plenary session
Abolition strategies: challenges and opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa
Egmont Palace, Europe room
 
11.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. Roundtable
Reducing the scope of the death penalty
Egmont Palace, Europe room		 Workshop
Death row prisoners and their families: assistance and support
Egmont Palace, Arenberg room		 Training session
The medias and the abolition of the death penalty
3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Roundtable
How to prevent a resurgence of the death penalty?
Egmont Palace, Europe room		 Workshop
Abolition generation: young people join the movement!
Egmont Palace, Arenberg room		 Training session
Keys for preparing a funding proposal
Egmont Palace, Orange room
 
Plenary session: Abolition strategies: challenges and opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa

28 February 2019 – 9.30 a.m. to 11 a.m. – Egmont Palace, Europe room

A number of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have abolished the death penalty over the last few years. What challenges need to be overcome and strategies put in place to make Sub-Saharan Africa completely abolitionist?

OPENING REMARKS: Zainabo Sylvie Kayitesi, President of the Working Group on the death penalty in Africa, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights*

SPEAKERS:

  • Cheick Sako, Minister of Justice – Guinea
  • Urbain Yameogo, CIFDHA Executive Director – Burkina Faso
  • Maryann Njau-Kimani, Chair of the Taskforce on the review of the mandatory nature of the death penalty – Kenya
  • Mohamed Ali Mossaad, Director of the African Centre for Justice & Peace – Sudan
  • Raphaël Nyabirungu Mwene Songa, Professor and Lawyer - DRC

 

Roundtable: Reducing the scope of the death penalty

28 February 2019 – 11.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. – Egmont Palace, Europe room

The death penalty continues to be applied for all kinds of offences despite a clear international legal framework. This session will explore strategic ways to reduce the scope of the death penalty with a view to its total abolition.

MODERATOR: Aminata Niakate, Lawyer and ECPM Board member – France

SPEAKERS:

  • Shreya Rastogi, founding member of Project 39A, National Law University Delhi – India
  • Naomi Lynton, Lawyer - Barbados
  • Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, Director of Iran Human Rights - Norway
  • Andrew Khoo, Lawyer - Malaysia
  • Sima Samar, Chair of the Independent Human Rights Commission - Afghanistan

 

Workshop: Death row prisoners and their families: assistance and support

28 February 2019 – 11.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. – Egmont Palace, Arenberg room

Individuals who have been acquitted and family members of people who have been executed or sentenced to death will share their needs and their projects with us. This will be followed by a discussion about the kinds of concrete support the abolitionist movement could provide.

MODERATOR: Representative of the Center for Victims of Torture*

SPEAKERS:

  • Sohail Emmanuel – Pakistan
  • Ensaf Haidar, President and co-founder, Raif Badawi foundation for freedom – Canada
  • Kwame Kamau Ajamu, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Witness To Innocence - USA

 

Roundtable: How to prevent a resurgence of the death penalty?

28 February 2019 – 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. – Egmont Palace, Europe room

What drives countries to reintroduce the death penalty and resume sentences or executions? Identifying potential action which could prevent such a resurgence.

MODERATOR: Nicolas Perron, Director of programs, ECPM – France

SPEAKERS:

  • Yuval Shany, Chair or the United Nations Human Rights Committee
  • Sandrine Dacga, Lawyer and member of the Cameroonian Network of Lawyers Against the Death Penalty - Cameroon
  • Karen Gomez-Dumpit, Commissioner, Philippines Human Rights Commission - Philippines
  • Fatimata M’Baye, President, Mauritanian Association of Human Rights – Mauritania

 

 Workshop: Abolition generation: young people join the movement!

28 February 2019 – 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. – Egmont Palace, Arenberg room

This workshop aims to give the floor to young people, encouraging them to take a stand against the death penalty and define how they would contribute to the abolitionist movement.

 

Training: Keys for preparing a funding proposal

28 February 2019 – 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. – Egmont Palace, Orange room

Through exercises, participants will learn to identify backers and obtain keys to prepare funding applications.

MODERATOR: Ariane Grésillon, Deputy Director, ECPM – France

SPEAKERS:

  • Sara Guillet, independent Consultant – France
  • Basak King, independent Consultant – Turkey

 

*Pending confirmation

Find the descriptions and speakers of each academic debate under this table.

9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Roundtable
The discriminatory application of the death penalty towards women
Egmont Palace, Europe room		 Workshop
New technologies and the death penalty
Egmont Palace, Arenberg room
 Training
UN advocacy: using the UPR and Treaty Bodies to advocate for abolition
Egmont Palace, Orange room
11.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. Roundtable
Foreigners sentenced to death in the fight against terrorism
Egmont Palace, Europe room		 Workshop
New strategies for abolition
Egmont Palace, Arenberg room		 Training
Advocating for abolition with community and religious leaders
Egmont Palace, Orange room		 
Roundtable: The discriminatory application of the death penalty towards women

1 March 2019 – 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. – Egmont Palace, Europe room

An introduction to the discriminatory nature of the death penalty in the case of women and to propose concrete ways to integrate this issue into the advocacy of abolitionists.

MODERATOR: Aurélie Plaçais, Director, World Coalition against the Death Penalty – France

SPEAKERS:

  • Delphine Lourtau, Executive Director, CornellCenter on the Death Penalty Worldwide – USA
  • Khadija Amrir, witness - Morocco
  • Danthong Breen, Senior Advisor, Union for Civil Liberty - Thailand
  • Angela Uwandu, Head of Office, Avocats Sans Frontières France - Nigeria
  • Agnès Callamard, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions*

 

Workshop: New technologies and the death penalty

1 March 2019 – 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. – Egmont Palace, Arenberg room

This session will provide an overview of the possibilities offered by new technologies, whether to convey a message or support the work of anti-death penalty organisations.

MODERATOR: Berhan Taye, Campaign coordinator, Access Now – USA

SPEAKERS:

  • Tom Waldron, Senior Vice President, The Hatcher Group - USA
  • Sarah Belal, Director, Justice Project Pakistan – Pakistan
  • Lesedi Bewlay, Light Touch Support Coordinator, The Engine Room - Botswana

 

Training: UN advocacy: using the UPR and Treaty Bodies to advocate for abolition

1 March 2019 – 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. – Egmont Palace, Orange room

How do the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and Treaty Bodies operate? How can they be used effectively within the framework of advocating for abolition?

MODERATOR: Paul d'Auchamp, Deputy Regional Representative for Europe,
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

SPEAKERS:

  • Anna-Karin Holmlund, Senior UN advocate, Amnesty International - United Kingdom
  • Mona M’Bikay Executive Director, UPR-Info - Switzerland

 

Roundtable: Foreigners sentenced to death in the fight against terrorism

1 March 2019 – 11.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. – Egmont Palace, Europe room

Information about death sentences applied to foreigners within the framework of combating terrorism is incomplete. In this context, how to engage countries on the situation of their citizens sentenced or facing the death penalty overseas?

MODERATOR: Raphaël Chenuil-Hazan, Executive Director, ECPM – France

SPEAKERS:

  • Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism
  • James Connell, Learned Counsel, Military Commissions Defense Organization – USA
  • Hédi Yahmed, Journalist – Tunisia
  • Martin Pradel, Lawyer – France

 

Workshop: New strategies for abolition

1 March 2019 – 11.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. – Egmont Palace, Arenberg room

This interactive workshop will propose new strategies, taking into account the new trends and risks affecting the abolitionist movement.

MODERATOR: Emily Hutchinson, Program Manager, New Tactics for Human Rights - USA

SPEAKERS:

  • Chiara Sangiorgio, thematic Adviser, Amnesty International - United Kingdom
  • Hsin-Yi Lin, Director, Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty - Taiwan

 

Training: Advocating for abolition with community and religious leaders

1 March 2019 – 11.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. – EGMONT Palace, Orange room

What arguments should be used to mobilise community and religious leaders in support of abolition? How should this dialogue be used when advocating for abolition?

MODERATOR: Guillaume Colin, Executive Director, FIACAT – France

SPEAKERS:

  • Jeanie Ollivierre, Training and public relations officer, SVG Human Rights Association - Saint Vincentand the Grenadines
  • Cheikh Barham Aboubacar, Chair of the Committee on intra and interfaith dialogue - Niger
  • Clifford Msiska, Director, Paralegal Advisory Service - Malawi
  • Salomon Nodjitoloum, Chair, ACAT Chad - Chad

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