17 June 2009 :

the seminar that followed the June 10th Conference in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo on the abolition of capital punishment has ended. The seminar topic was communication regarding the death penalty.
Fifty journalists, coming from all provinces of the DRC, participated in the seminar. The event was organised by Hands Off Cain in collaboration with the Congolese National Press Union, with the sponsorship of the RAI Social Secretary and thanks to contributions by the Foreign Affairs Minster and the Elsa Peretti Foundation.
The docents of the Metawin society also participated. It was coordinated by Oliviero Toscani who founded “La Sterpaia”, a workshop in Tuscany on the art of multimedia communication. The goal was to realise an African campaign for the abolition of the death penalty.
Mr Toscani, photographer and Hands Off Cain board of director, said: "An important determination to act towards abolition emerged from the efforts of the Conference and the seminar. This commitment is very interesting because it allows us to do a campaign from the top. The institutions are already convinced, so the campaign is aimed at public opinion, and not the opposite as usually happens with the death penalty. It struck me that a country that has many primary necessities has made the abolition of the death penalty a priority. We can learn from this".