5th World Congress Against Death Penalty

FIDH and 12 of its member organisations from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Pakistan, Taiwan, Thailand, USA, Marocco, Botswana, Senegal and Spain will participate in the 5th World Congress Against the Death Penalty (WCADP) that will take place in Madrid from 12 to 15 June 2013.

The WCADP is organized by Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort (Together Against the Death Penalty – ECPM) and in partnership with the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, to which FIDH is a member of the Steering Committee since its creation in 2002.

In conformity with its consistent policy against the application of the death penalty under any circumstances, FIDH has contributed to the organisation of this important event and calls for a strong and coordinated action against the use of the death penalty.

Gathering political actors, legal experts and representatives of the civil society from across the world aiming at discussing and elaborating national and international strategies for the universal abolition of death penalty, the WCADP constitutes a major step towards the strenghtening of the global abolitionist movement.

“On the occasion of the 5th World Congress, FIDH and its member organisations reiterate their call for the universal abolition of this inhuman practice in accordance with international human rights standards. The World Congress should send out a clear message worldwide : that universal abolition is essential for a world where progress and justice must prevail” , declared Karim Lahidji, FIDH President.

FIDH is largely engaged for the abolition of the death penalty through investigative missions, advocacy, training and publication of reports. During the last months, FIDH organized two investigative missions on North Korea and in the United States.

In Madrid, FIDH will be represented by Florence Bellivier, FIDH Chargée de mission on the Death Penalty and President of the World Coalition against the Death Penalty, Mabassa Fall, FIDH Representative at the African Union, Amina Bouyach, FIDH Secretary General, and representatives of 12 of its member organisations from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Pakistan, Taiwan, Thailand, USA, Marocco, Bostwana, Senegal and Spain. FIDH representantives will in particular intervene on the use of death penalty in the Middle East and North Africa Region, on the relations between death penalty and terrorism, on the definition of the death penalty as torture and on the strengthening of regional mechanisms against death penalty in Africa.

As of today, 140 States are abolitionist in law and practice. 58 States remain retentionists, and a recent resumption of executions took place in a number of countries, notably in Gambia, India, Japan, Pakistan and Taiwan. China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the USA are the five biggest executioners in the world.