05 November 2009 :

The next Hands Off Cain Congress will be held on December 17 and 18 in a special location: the Padova Prison. This is not just a first for a Radical congress, it’s the first time that any congress has been held inside a jail. Hands Off Cain would like to thank the Department of Penitentiary Administration for its participation and for granting the necessary authorisation.
The congress literally takes place on days of the second anniversary of the extraordinary success of the Universal Moratorium on capital punishment at the United Nations General Assembly. With that vote, we achieved an objective of historic importance for our country and also of immense human and civil importance to the whole world. The Congress will also be an occasion for relaunching the campaign for the moratorium, something that is absolutely necessary to prevent the victory from fading away.
Padova Prison was rightly chosen. In the generally devastated Italian prison environment, the prison has in the last few years been particularly mindful of issues surrounding jails, punishment and the re-socialisation of prisoners, for example "Ristretti Orizzonti", an information centre inside the jail where the prisoners work.
Due to the limited time for organisation and the understandable security needs for entering the jail (each person must be individually authorised), Hands Off Cain invites participants to advise of their attendance at the Congress by immediately sending an email to gaia.rosini@nessunotocchicaino.it, leaving their details and a contact phone number.