From Left: D'Elia, Zamparutti, Pannella

HANDS OFF CAIN PRESENT THE INITIATIVES FOR THE WORLD DAY AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY

October 10, 2010: at a conference held in Rome on October 10 on the World Day Against the Death Penalty, Hands Off Cain presented the dossier “Sakineh and the others” on stoning around the world and showed a video by the Iranian Resistance with images of a double stoning, carried out by the Mullah's regime.
Amongst those who participated at the conference were Marco Pannella, Hands Off Cain secretary Sergio D’Elia, Radical parliamentarians Elisabetta Zamparutti and Marco Perduca, and president of the Iranian Women's Democratic Association in Italy, Shahrzad Sholeh. Hands Off Cain launched its initiative to realise the pro-moratorium stance of the United Nations with two prioritised objectives.
The first objective concerns Africa, the continent with the highest number of de-facto abolitionist countries and where in recent years significant steps have been taken towards the abolition of the death penalty. Hands Off Cain's goal is the abolition in at least another three African countries in the next few years: Benin, Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
On October 12, a delegation from Hands Off Cain will be in Zambia, the first step in a mission that will involve another three African countries in the next two weeks: the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo and Mali.
The second objective of the initiative concerns the United Nations, where the General Assembly session that just opened has a new Resolution for the Universal Moratorium on capital punishment in its orders of the day.
The vote on the Resolution is scheduled for December and Hands Off Cain started lobbying to increase the cosponsors (there were 89 in 2008), the votes in favour (106 in 2008), and to strengthen the new text on four points: the abolition of “state secrecy” on the death penalty; the limitation of the death penalty to the most serious crimes; the abolition on the mandatory death penalty for certain types of crimes; the institution or naming of a United Nations “Special Envoy” that has the task of promoting the concrete application of the UN line in countries that still practice capital punishment to reach, through the moratoria, the definitive abolition of the death penalty around the world.
A motion first signed by Elisabetta Zamparutti that committed the Italian Government in every sense and was approved by the Chamber of Deputies on October 6. (Sources: HOC, 10/10/2010)