|
|
 |
| |
Your signature against the death penalty
Appeal to the UN for a global moratorium on executions.
Fill in the form below to join our appeal:
|
|
To the UN Secretary-General,
We, the undersigned, believe that the human race must evolve, and the abolition
of the death penalty is not only an individual need that strengthens the inviolability
of the person, but also a vital, universal need. It is the ultimate goal of
the 20th century; the meeting point of different civilizations.
"Hands off Cain" paraphrases the words of the Bible, and for us this
ancient commandment means that the State cannot dispose of the lives of its
citizens. While many people are in favor of retaining or reinstating the death
penalty, their profound sense of justice is misplaced by crime that endangers
us all.
The abolition of the death penalty is a belief shared by the International Community.
On April 24, for the seventh year running, the UN Commission on Human Rights
established that "the abolition of the death penalty contributes to the
enhancement of human dignity and to the progressive development of human rights",
asking retentionist States "to establish a moratorium on executions, with
a view to completely abolishing the death penalty".
The Courts set up by the Security Council to pronounce judgement on genocide,
ethnic cleansing, mass extermination, and other serious crimes committed in
the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and the Statute of the Permanent International
Court for crimes against humanity, all categorically exclude capital punishment,
whereas a number of States actually inflict the death penalty for far less serious
crimes.
We, the undersigned, ask the United Nation General Assembly to lead the International
Community away from this intolerable anachronism, by establishing a universal
moratorium on executions with a view to total abolition.
After the abolition of slavery and the banning of torture, the right not to
be killed following a legal sentence could be another common denominator, a
new inalienable aspect of being human that makes us one family.
|
|
 |
|
|