21 December 2007 :
“The hard work starts now. Its like signing a contract, now you have to apply it,” Rosa nel Pugno Radical Parliamentarian and Hands Off Cain Secretary Sergio D’Elia said at a press conference, in reference to the UN General Assembly’s approval of the pro-Moratorium resolution.As Pier Paolo Pasolini said, “you forget big successes immediately.” And so the Radicals are looking forward. From their headquarters in Via di Torre Argentina they marked their victory in the presence of leader Marco Pannella, Hands Off Cain Treasurer Elisabetta Zamparutti, Secretary of the Italian Radicals Rita Bernardini, and Aldo Ajello, representing Europe for the Great Lakes Region of Africa.
“The resolution,” D’Elia explained, “asks 'executioner countries' to provide information to the Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki Moon on the use of the death penalty, thereby getting around what is often a state secret.” D’Elia hopes that the UN will prepare a detailed report on the implementation of the resolution in countries that still employ the death penalty at the next General Assembly in September 2008.
In the meantime, the Radical Party and Hands Off Cain are continuing their work to achieve the Moratorium on various important fronts: Africa (which has the highest number of de facto abolitionist countries), the ex-Soviet Republics of Central Asia, South East Asia and China.