EU-gezant voor Mensenrechten aanwezig bij Wereldcongres tegen doodstraf (en)
© Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM)
The 5th World Congress Against the Death Penalty will take place in Madrid, on 12-15 June 2013. It is organised by ECPM (Ensemble contre la Peine de Mort), under the sponsorship of Spain, Norway, Switzerland and France and in partnership with the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. Previous World Congresses had taken place in Strasbourg (2001), Montreal (2004), Paris (2007) and Geneva (2010).
This important event will bring together thousands of members of civil society, political representatives, lawyers and journalists from the five continents with the aim of developing new strategies for universal abolition. A particular effort is deployed to facilitate the attendance of participants from retentionist countries, who fight on a daily basis for abolition in their country, often in difficult circumstances.
The universal abolitionist trend has gained some considerable ground these past forty years. The planet has undergone real abolitionist changes ranging going from 20% to 70% of countries having done away with the capital punishment. However, in 2012 at least 682 inmates were executed in 21 countries and 1722 individuals were sentenced to death in 58 countries. The Madrid event will address this grim reality.
The Congress will kick start with the official opening ceremony in the afternoon of the 12th, where many political personalities are expected. The opening ceremony will be followed by an intense two-day series of debates, workshops and roundtables dedicated to specific regions, where particular attention is needed. Focus is expected on the MENA and Asian regions, but also targeted discussions on Sub-Saharan Africa, the Carribean, Europe, United States and China.
The EU will be represented to the event at high level, with the EU Special Representative on Human Rights, Mr Stavros Lambrinidis i attending and addressing the closing ceremony on the 15th of June. On expert level, officials from the EEAS i and the European Commission (DG DEVCO) will attend the entirety of the Congress.
The EU pays particular attention to an active participation to the Madrid Congress, having the abolition at the heart of its human rights policy. This participation is prescribed as a targeted task under the Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy, adopted in June 2012.
The EU will reaffirm its strong and principled policy and its opposition to the death penalty and show case all diplomatic tools at its disposal to advance the cause of worldwide abolition. It will underline all efforts carried out in bilateral, multilateral and regional level. The EU will also present the newly updated and revised EU Guidelines on Death Penalty (as adopted by Foreign Affairs Council in April 2013), which form the basis of our everyday action.
The EU continues to be the lead donor to the efforts of civil society organisations around the world towards abolition of the death penalty. The abolition of the death penalty is one of the thematic priorities under the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR).
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World Congress against Death Penalty (Madrid 12-15 June 2013)