Over 1,000 human rights activists from over 100 countries gathered in Geneva, Switzerland, for the 4th World Congress Against the Death Penalty. Many participants hope to achieve a moratorium on the imposition and execution of the death penalty around the world. At present, 56 states and territories still have the death penalty, including China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, North Korea and the United States. In 2007, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty. In recent years, the number of countries that have repealed capital punishment has been accelerating. The World Congress issued a resolution on February 26, calling for a series of steps toward ending the death penalty: “We call, from the host city of international organizations and a symbol of peace …[for] the universal abolition of capital punishment.”

(A. Zumach and J. Bruck, “The death penalty: A question of human rights,” Deutsche Welle, February 24, 2010; Final Declaration 4th World Congress, Feb. 26, 2010). Read Bianca Jagger’s speech to the World Congress, Feb. 24, 2010. See also International.

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