Marco Pannella and the Rwandan President, Paul Kagame

HANDS OFF CAIN TO HONOUR KAGAME ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

August 30, 2007: Hands Off Cain awarded the Rwandan President Paul Kagame with the "The Abolitionist of the Year 2007" Award for scrapping capital punishment from the criminal laws of the country, RNA reports. The prize was awarded through Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi.
The occasion coincided with the release of the annual 2007 "The Death Penalty Worldwide" report of the organisation that has been prefaced by President Kagame.
Romano Prodi wrote the introduction of the report. "The abolition of the death penalty and the adherence to the campaign for a universal moratorium on capital punishment are acts of remarkable symbolic value, through which Rwanda has emblematically shown the world the possibility of an end to the absurd cycle of vendetta and that justice and lawfulness cannot be achieved with capital punishment", the President said in a statement. Last year, the ruling Rwanda Patriotic Front party led by Mr. Kagame campaigned to abolish the death penalty in Rwanda. Despite bitter criticism of the plan by Genocide survivors, the Rwanda Senate put the final stamp to the debate by adopting the change in June. (Sources: AllAfrica.com, 29/08/2007)