[EDITO] In a month's time, we will experience a decisive moment for universal abolition - 7th World Congress Against the Death Penalty

Dear abolitionist friends,

A year that ends with unprecedented support for the UN Resolution for a moratorium on the application of the death penalty (121 votes in favour, 35 against, 32 abstentions and 5 absent countries) and good abolitionist prospects for 2019: the constitutionalization of abolition in Burkina Faso, the abolitionist debate opened in Malaysia, and many other opportunities. That is why the World Congress against the Death Penalty in Brussels (26 Feb-1st March 2019) will be an essentiel gathering, in just 4 weeks!

So register now, mark the date on your agenda and book your tickets, because together we will be able to build the abolitionist strategies of tomorrow.

This edition will focus on the follow-up of the debates held at the Abidjan Regional Congress in 2018 on the situation in Africa, as well as on innovations. Thus, we will ask, in a new way, the international actors of the business world about the actions undertaken by the private sector to go towards abolition of the death penalty.
ECPM wishes you a very good start to 2019,

Raphaël Chenuil-Hazan
Executive Director ECPM

An academic programme at its peak

For its 7th edition, the World Congress against the Death Penalty goes even further than in previous years by offering delegates a high quality academic programme at the forefront of the debates that are currently taking place in the abolitionist community: two new plenary sessions, exclusive training courses for delegates, nearly 32 high-level conferences, workshops and parallel events, an impressive cultural programme, not to mention the official opening and closing ceremonies in the most prestigious places in Brussels… More diversified, more participatory and more formative than ever, the specific features of this 7thCongress are to be discovered here.

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An impressive cultural programme : a week of cultural events on the death penalty

Never in the history of the World Congresses has cultural expression been put forward so much to denounce, raise awareness and encourage reflection on the major issues related to capital punishment. Through exhibitions of photographs, paintings, drawings, theatrical and poetic performances, as well as short or feature film screenings, art explores the diversity of the causes and consequences of the death penalty in each one of our societies.
Delegates and visitors from Brussels are invited to attend this cultural programme, adapted to young people, professionals, convinced abolitionists and those who could become so!

Interview : Gérard Dubois, an artistic approach to the death penalty

Behind the ringed eyes of the visual of the 7th World Congress Against the Death Penalty, the world-renowned French artist, Gérard Dubois, wanted to deliver a strong message to denounce the impact of death penalty on a human life.

News of the abolition

Malaysia [VIDEO] : a country’s model path to abolition

“Malaysia must become the Tiger of Asia”, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad told the United Nations General Assembly in late 2018. A “Tiger” who, last year, in just a few months, made an impression with his determination to abolish the death penalty step by step in a region surrounded by fervently retentionist countries.
Take a look behind the scenes of this exceptional year for Malaysia, which has been encouraged to continue on its path to abolition by ECPM and its partners, ADPAN (Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network) and PGA (Parliamentarians for Global Action).

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MORATORIUM: 121 countries voted for a universal moratorium

ECPM welcomes the adoption of this resolution by a record number of states: on December 17, at the vote of the UN General Assembly, 121 countries voted for a universal moratorium, confirming the global trend in favor of the abolition of the death penalty.
Read the press release

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MOROCCO: Review of the General Assembly of the Moroccan Coalition Against the Death Penalty

“With perseverance and the development of a culture of peace, we can work together to move towards the abolition of the death penalty,” said Moroccan Minister of Justice Mohammed Aujjar, at the General Assembly of the Moroccan Coalition Against the Death Penalty, in partnership with the Moroccan Organisation for Human Rights OMDH and ECPM.
Read the article on the website of the Moroccan abolitionist movement

Agenda

29 January 2019: 1st press conference of the 7th World Congress against the Death Penalty at the Press Club in Brussels
26 February to 1 March 2019: 7th World Congress Against the Death Penalty in Brussels
25 February to 22 March 2019: 40th session of the Human Rights Council