Testimony and Statements

April 26, 2000 Link to Web Archive

Link to PDF

By Rabbi Peter J. Rubinstein, Senior Rabbi of Central Synagogue Delivered at Riverside Church, January 10, 2000 Good morning. It is really humbling to be here on this pulpit in the presence of colleagues — ministers of this great church; to be with those who have devoted their lives fighting for a cause which I deem of ultimate importance; and to be with you, the members of a congregation which throughout its history has somehow always understood what needs to be done and somehow managed to…

Speech given by Former Florida Chief Justice Gerald Kogan Amnesty International Southern Regional Conference Orlando, Florida October 23, 1999 Good morning, everybody. It’s my pleasure to be here this morning and it’s worth the trip up from Miami to come to Orlando to speak before a group such as this. I was commenting to Joe before we started that there are so many young-looking folks in the audience and Joe very politely said, “I’m glad to know there are those who will be able to carry on…

Message from Mary Robinson: United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, to the Press Conference Organized by the Death Penalty Information Center New York City, USA Tuesday, 12 October 1999 Ladies and Gentlemen, I regret that I am not able to be with you today to share this important event. I am confident that today’s discussion will be fruitful and contribute to the continuing international effort aimed at limiting, and one day, eliminating the use of the death penalty throughout the…

Following a series of celebrated releases of innocent defendants from its death row, Illinois’s House of Representatives held hearings to address the state’s system of capital punishment on September 15 & 16, 1999. Among those who testified were Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking; Mike Farrell, actor and human rights activist; Renny Cushing, Director of Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation; Bryan Stevenson, Director of Equal Justice Initiative; Professor Lawrence Marshall…

HISTORIC ILLINOIS HEARINGS ADDRESS INNOCENCE AND THE DEATH PENALTY Following a series of celebrated releases of innocent defendants from its death row, Illinois’s House of Representatives held hearings to address the state’s system of capital punishment on September 15 & 16, 1999. Among those who testified were Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking; Mike Farrell, actor and human rights activist; Renny Cushing, Director of Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation; Bryan Stevenson…

Resolution Supporting Worldwide Moratorium on Executions April 1999 [Preliminary unedited version] Question of the death penalty Commission on Human Rights resolution 1999/61 The Commission on Human Rights, Recalling article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which affirms the right of everyone to life, article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and articles 6 and 37 (a) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Recalling also General Assembly…

Co-sponsored by the National Council of Synagogues and the Bishops’ Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops1 “A Sanhedrin that puts one person to death once in seven years is called destructive. Rabbi Eliezer ben Azariah says: Or even once in seventy years. Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Akiba say: Had we been the Sanhedrin, none would ever have been put to death.” Mishnah Makkot, 1:10 (2^nd Century, C.E.) “A sign of hope is the increasing…

Ford Foundation Symposium November 12, 1998 by Richard C. Dieter, Esq. Executive Director, Death Penalty Information Center Introduction The U.N. Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Torture Convention) was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 10, 19841 and ratified by the United States ten years later. In all, 176 countries have either ratified or signed the torture convention. The thrust of this treaty…