Specials

This current international trend toward the abolition of the death penalty possibly encouraged the European Union to come to an agreement, thus finalizing a common position on the issue.

Three months ago, the Italian Initiative became a European Initiative and now the Presidency of the European Union, held by Portugal, is fully engaged in the campaign.
On Tuesday, September 25th, Prime Minister Romano Prodi began the most recent Italian diplomatic promotion for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty at the United Nations. His statement in front of the UN General Assembly was mainly focused on the need to generate sufficient consensus which would finally lead to a resolution for a moratorium.
According to Prodi the moratorium “will demonstrate that humankind is capable of making progress not only in science but also in the field of ethics. In particular, he said, “a United Nations resolution against the death penalty will prove that human beings today are better than they were yesterday also in moral terms. An outcome with enormous consequences, heralding a more just future, and a society that has at last freed itself from the spiral of revenge, demonstrating that it has heeded the warning of the ancients: if you want peace, you must work for justice”.
Following Prodi’s statement, on September 29th, Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema, with Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs Luis Amado hosted a meeting aimed at expanding the already broad support for the initiative on death penalty in the 62nd session of the General Assembly.
Nobel Peace Laureate Jose Ramos-Horta, President of Timor-Leste participated in the meeting as well as UN member States belonging to different regional groups and representatives of NGOs.
More than 20 countries took the floor to support the initiative: The Philippines for Asia, South Africa, Gabon, Rwanda, Burundi and Angola for Africa; Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay for Latin America.
“The Former Italian and European campaign” finally became an international initiative. The strong support given to the moratorium-proposal by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in recent days further bolstered the cross-regional co sponsorship of the upcoming draft-resolution. Civil Society is also playing a role in this campaign.
The NGO “Associazione Nessuno Tocchi Caino” pointed out that the aim of the moratorium is to promote a huge international debate with the scope of promoting and finally achieving the elimination of the death penalty in a near future.
At the end of the meeting Italy and Portugal announced an immediate “follow-up”: a diplomatic task-force will be in charge to lobby within the UN and to increase the number of countries supporting the moratorium proposal.
This task force will also have to present, as soon as possible, a draft resolution able to achieve the broadest number of cosponsors belonging to different regions of the world. Timing is crucial: delaying the presentation of the resolution could strengthen the reaction of the anti-abolitionist front, headed by Egypt and Singapore, and also supported by the Bush Administration.
In hope of achieving success, the draft-resolution may be able to neutralize traditional arguments of the anti-abolitionist front, based on the defence of national sovereignty determining the maintaining or abolition of capital punishment.
Therefore the resolution should mention the defence of national sovereignty while underscoring the UN commitment in the protection of human dignity, integrity, and the improvement of human rights.
Some additional problems for the moratorium-proposal could stem from the chair of the third Committee, the UN body dealing with human rights.
In fact, this body will be chaired by the Iraqi Ambassador Hamid al Bayati: the affection felt by Iraqis for capital punishment could involve a biased chairing of the works of the Commission.
Therefore, some obstacles could counteract the initiative. Currently, the number of countries supporting the resolution and ready to cosponsor it seems to be over 90: a victory requires a majority of the 192 UN Member States.
According to Nessuno Tocchi Caino, a “safety majority”, would be between 106 e and 108 votes. The struggle has just begun and could see its end in late November.
A victory would represent unprecedented progress in the history of the human civilization and the protection of human rights.