Cultural Program

7pm

Cinema Galeries

lindy lou

Screening of Lindy Lou, Juror number 2  by Florent Vassault

Galerie de la Reine 26, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
In partnership with Cine UN – UNRIC
English, subtitles French

22 years after a death sentence, former juror Lindy Lou sets out to meet the other jurors to find out if they share her feelings of remorse. Will her redemption be achieved through this journey she is undertaking today across the Mississippi River, to compare her experience with those of the 11 other jurors with whom she sentenced a man to death?

Free access, upon availability.

The screening will be followed by a debate with Florent Vassault, director.

8pm

Les Tanneurs Theater

SUZY-and-Franck

Representation of Suzy & Franck by Didier Poiteaux - Inti Théâtre

Rue des Tanneurs 75-77, 1000 Brussels
Produced with the help of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles - Direction du théâtre and Wallonie-Bruxelles International (WBI)
French subtitles English

Suzy lives in Paris and Frank lives on death row in Texas. In 1996, by chance, they started a correspondence. Little by little, they discover each other, meet each other, fall in love and, later, to continue to see each other despite the restrictions imposed on Franck regarding his conditions of detention, they get married. Twenty years later, they still love each other but still do not live together.

The performance will be followed by a discussion with the artist and Sandrine Ageorges-Skinner.

Bar open on site from 7pm
Free admission subject to availability

7pm

Egmont Palace

Network Evening

It was a wish expressed at the Oslo Congress: time to meet, time to network and to present your actions. So, for the first time, ECPM is offering this exceptional evening in the prestigious Galerie des glaces of the Palais d'Egmont, around a cocktail and in the presence of those who bring abolition to life all over the world. Photocall, music but also artistic exhibitions will animate this unique evening.

 

  • Exhibition A walk through the gallows by Arthur Judah Angel
    This artist was sentenced to death in Nigeria. During his detention in appalling conditions, he began a series of drawings illustrating his experience. Realistic and poignant, his work allows us to imagine life behind bars on Nigerian death row, where no photographer can go. It is a rich and unpublished source on the daily lives of those sentenced to death.

  • Presentation of a new painting by Ndume Olatushani
    A former death row inmate in Tennessee, this American artist was able to benefit from a program during his detention that gave him access to painting equipment. In a survival reflex, he then undertook to represent the outside world as he imagined it. For this 7th World Congress against the Death Penalty, Ndume Olatushani wanted to present a new painting.

 

  • "Draw me the abolition" poster exhibition
    For its 4th edition, the "Draw me the Abolition" poster competition organized by ECPM brings together drawings by young people from all over the world. Selected by an international jury, the fifty best posters will be exhibited. During the Network evening, delegates will be asked to vote for their favourite drawings. The three winners will receive the Special People's Choice Award.

 

  • Who deserves to die? Sofía Moro's exhibition
    The exhibition, presented throughout the Congress in the projection room of the Palais d'Egmont, will be accessible during the Network evening.

Inside & Out - Evening of testimonies

20h00 - BOZAR (Room M)

The evening of testimonies is a highly anticipated event of the World Congresses against the Death Penalty. This regular meeting gives the floor to the great witnesses to the death penalty.

Inside & Out will focus on the real and symbolic emotional connections between the inside of Death Row and the outside world. For this reason, this highlight of the 7th World Congress will focus on informal discussion.

Presentation: Pete Ouko, lawyer, former death row inmate - Kenya

 

Part one : The family bond in the face of incarceration

  • Sabine Atlaoui, wife of Serge Atlaoui, sentenced to death in Indonesia - France
  • Vida Mehrannia, wife of Dr Ahmadreza Djalali, sentenced to death - Iran

    Artistic intervention: La Triochka, trio of acrobatic lifts

Part Two: Maintaining a connection with the outside world during incarceration

  • Antoinette Chahine, former death row inmate - Lebanon
  • Marie Pelenc, human rights activist and Antoinette Chahine correspondent

    Artistic intervention: Éléonore Valère Lachky, dance solo "Army".

Part Three: Getting Out of Death Row

  • Hsu Tzu-chiang, former death row inmate - Taiwan

 

The Evening of testimonies is sponsored by the Government of Flanders.
For more information, go to the Witnesses page.

All day long

Egmont Palace Library

Projection cycle

11:30 am : Nyapala from Emile Carreau – 30’ – English subtitles French

12:15 pm : Menunggu Massa from The S-Ploited, Freedom Film Network – 30 ‘ – English
Discussion: Malaysia on the road to abolition.

3 pm : The Sinner from Asim Rafiqui, Justice Project Pakistan – 40’ – English
Discussion: Stories of former executioners.

4:15 pm : It was 5 in the morning from Mostapha Heravi, Zamaneh Media – 35’ – Farsi subtitles English
Discussion: The death penalty in Iran, issues and current situation.

All day

Library stand in the Abolition Village

Presentations of fact-finding missions

  • 12pm to 12.30pm:  Fact-finding mission on death row, Mauritania – With Nordine Drici (mission redactor), Julia Bourbon-Fernandez (ECPM), Fatimata Mbaye and Saleck Lemine
  • 12:30 pm to 1 pm:  Judged for More Than Her crime: a Global Overview of Women Facing the Death Penalty - Avec Sharon Pia Hickey (director of research and advocacy, Cornell Centre on the Death Penalty Worldwide)
  • 3:00 pm to 3:30 pm: Sentenced to oblivion, Fact-finding mission on death row, Cameroon – With Nestor Toko (mission coordinator), Carole Berrih (mission redactor), Marie Lina Samuel (ECPM)
  • 15:45 to 16:15:  Fact-finding mission on death row, Lebanon – With Karim El Mufti (mission redactor), Julia Bourbon-Fernandez (ECPM), members of AJEM

11 am to 12 am

Library stand in the Abolition Village

Signing session

  • Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich for "Fact of a Body: A Gripping True Crime Murder Investigation" (Sonatine éditions)

 

  • Antoinette Chahine for Crimes d’innocence (éd. Dar An-Nahar)

 

  • Marie Gloris Bardiaux-Vaïente for La Guillotine (éd. Eidola) and L’Abolition. Le combat de Robert Badinter (éd. Glénat)

 

  • Geneviève Donadini for Le Procès Ranucci. Témoignage d’un juré d’assises (éd. L’Harmattan)

The World March for Abolition

5.30pm - Brussels streets

The World March for Abolition, a real highlight of the World Congresses against the Death Penalty, traditionally completes this political and activist gathering. For the first time, ECPM is organising a night march that will illuminate the historic centre of Brussels with our conviction that justice must not kill!

Alongside important figures in the abolitionist movement, many of us are celebrating these four days of activism outside the walls and proudly wearing the colours of our commitment alongside the people of Brussels.

 

Where and when?

Following the official closing ceremony in BOZAR, follow us to join other local civil society actors for this unique event.

See you on Friday, March 1, at 5:30 p.m., at the summit of Mont des Arts.

 

Material

ECPM will provide the appropriate equipment to ensure the visibility of the event. Also remember to take your "Hand of Abolition" included in the congress kit that will be distributed to you at the Opening Ceremony, and post loudly our call to action: "Abolition Now!"

Projection cycle

Morning - Egmont Palace Library

 

9 am : Guilty, Matthew Sleeth and Maggie Miles
82' - Reprieve Australian - English

The documentary recounts the last days of Myuran Sukumaran, a criminal sentenced to death who became an artist. The cold preparation of Myuran's final hours thus contrasts with his indomitable spirit that drives him to create his most intense paintings, shortly before being shot by an Indonesian firing squad.

The screening will be followed by a discussion in English: "How art leads to resilience".

STAKEHOLDERS

  • Maggie Miles (producer)
  • Matthew Sleeth (director) (to be confirmed)
  • Julian McMahon (President of Reprieve Australia)
  • Ndume Olatushani (former death row inmate, United States)

 

11:30 am : Serge Atlaoui, Sentenced to death, Christine Tournadre
60' - French with English subtitles

The life of Serge and Sabine Atlaoui changed in November 2005, with Serge's arrest while on a maintenance mission in a factory in Jakarta. This one was used as a cover for ecstasy trafficking. A few months later, he was sentenced to death.

The screening will be followed by a discussion in French: "Serge Atlaoui, current situation and issues".

STAKEHOLDERS

  • Sabine Atlaoui (wife of Serge Atlaoui)
  • Richard Sédillot (lawyer for Serge Atlaoui and ECPM spokesperson)

Signing session

11am to 12am - Bookstore stand of the Abolition Village

  • Antoinette Chahine for Crimes d’innocence (éd. Dar An-Nahar)
  • Marie Gloris Bardiaux-Vaïente for La Guillotine (éd. Eidola) and L’Abolition. Le combat de Robert Badinter (éd. Glénat)
  • Geneviève Donadini for Le Procès Ranucci. Témoignage d’un juré d’assises (éd. L’Harmattan)

 

 

Feb. 25 to March 1

European Parliament

Photo © Christophe Meireis

Portraits of Abolition - Christophe Meireis

Menuhin Space of the European Parliament

17 portraits of those who are doing the abolition. Former death row inmates, families, politicians... They discover each other, they whisper from the depths of their beings these words that pass through them.

The exhibition is accompanied by the presentation of the LXB Chair, by artist Wang Keping, in honour of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiao Bo.

Feb. 15 to March 1

Brussels Park

Bubbles for abolition

Gates of the Brussels Park, facing the Royal Palace

The citizens who must know that nothing is ever taken for granted. Debate over the restoration of the death penalty is likely to reappear in the event of the slightest tension. Young people, those who will make tomorrow‘s policies, have not necessarily experienced the horrors of the death penalty themselves.

Educational, sensitive and accessible to all, the exhibition «Comics for Abolition» presents a global selection of comic strips by famous illustrators whose stories, each in their own unique way, echo the main abolitionist arguments. Enter the world of each artist, access their vision and discover the abolitionist cause.

© Thomas Ott & L'Association, 2008
© Thomas Ott & Verlag bbb Edition Moderne, 2006

Feb. 26 to March 1

Egmont Palace

© Sofia Moro

Who deserves to die, Sofia Moro

In partnership with the Spanish Embassy in Belgium and the University of Castilla - La Mancha

Who deserves to die is an in-depth and ongoing research project, developed over the past ten years, on the application of the death penalty in today's world, combining photography and journalism. It takes the viewer through the deathpaths of five countries representing different types of political systems, cultures and development.

 

Who deserves to die will also be exhibited in Bozar from February 28 to April 7.

Feb. 26 to March 1

Egmont Palace

affiche-eng-211x300

Draw me the abolition contest

Pupils from middle and high schools from across the world are invited to participate in the 4th Draw Me the Abolition competition, to produce an anti-death penalty poster. The top 50 chosen by an international jury will be exhibited in the participating countries and at the 7th World Congresses Against the Death Penalty. An exhibition catalogue will also be published to highlight the pupils’ work. 

More information to come

Feb. 26 to March 1

Egmont Palace

Posters 4 Tomorrow

More information to come

In total, 50 artists will offer a different and holistic vision of the struggle for universal abolition.

30 artists will offer their points of view to the Congress participants through a wide variety of arts: exhibitions of photos, drawings, paintings, singers, circus, theatre, projection cycle, dance.
In addition, 20 comic strip artists will be exhibited on the gates of the Brussels Park as part of the event Bubbles for Abolition, a unique selection of plates on the death penalty in the world.

The cultural programme is adapted to young people, professionals, bystanders, convinced abolitionists and those who can become so!

Artists : 20 cartoonists for the comic book exhibition, Didier Poiteau (Suzy & Franck), Florent Vassault (Lindy Lou, juror number 2), Typh Barrow, Vanessa Place, Christophe Meireis, Liu Xiao Bo, Arthur Judah Angel, Ndumé Olatushani, Sofia Moro, Sujeong Crystal Lee, Johnatan Bonadio, Emile Carreau, The S-Ploited, Asim Rafiqui, Mostapha Heravi, Matthew Sleeth, Maggie Miles, Christine Tournadre, Eleonore Valere Lachky, Trio Triochka, Ballaké Sissoko, Goksel Baktagir, Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich, Marie Gloris, Geneviève Donadini, Antoinette Chahine

Download the Timetable of the Congress