INTERNATIONAL: 4^th World Congress on the Death Penalty Meets In Geneva

Over 1,000 human rights activists from over 100 coun­tries gath­ered in Geneva, Switzerland, for the 4^th 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 In recent years, the num­ber of coun­tries that have repealed cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment has been accel­er­at­ing.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 4^th World Congress, Feb. 26, 2010). Read Bianca Jagger’s speech to the World Congress, Feb. 24, 2010. See also International.