World Day against the Death Penalty (10/10)





The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty was created in 2002 in Rome. Today it includes 167 national and international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, non-governmental organizations, bar associations, trade unions, local and regional authorities. Coalition –'s global goal is to abolish death sentences and executions in all countries where capital punishment is legal.

It is no secret that executions have been used in the world since ancient times. Only in the second half of the 20th century was a course set towards the abolition of the death penalty on a global scale, and not just in a single country. Based on the fact that the death penalty has no place in a democratic society, in 1983, at the initiative of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), a protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights on the abolition of the death penalty in peacetime was adopted, in 2002 – protocol on the abolition capital punishment in all circumstances. And as a result, since 1997, not a single person has been executed in the member countries of the Council of Europe (CoE), and the abolition of the death penalty has become a necessary condition for admission to the CoE.

Today, in most countries of the world, the death penalty is prohibited by law or is not applied in practice (that is, there is an official moratorium or sentences are not carried out). A number of countries using the death penalty have taken measures to narrow the scope of its application. But in 55 states (as of 2022), this capital punishment continues to be applied, including in the United States (in 32 states).

In Russia, death sentences have not been carried out since August 1996; since February 1999, there has been a moratorium on the death penalty, and since 2009, all Russian courts have been prohibited from passing appropriate sentences. Belarus remains the only country in Europe and the post-Soviet space where death sentences are carried out.

Also, according to the Coalition and Amnesty International, in recent years, governments of a number of countries, as a result of terrorist attacks, have resumed the use of the death penalty « as a means of protecting citizens and the state» and « in the name of the fight against terrorism», thereby putting an end to the moratoriums that have been in force for many years. Which caused a sharp increase in the number of executions in the world. Especially a lot was recorded in 5 countries: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria.

The issue of the death penalty is still quite acute in society today. There is no consensus. The arguments of supporters of this punishment are clear: deterrent, impossibility of relapse, leniency of life imprisonment. However, according to opponents of the death penalty, this means of punishment violates the inalienable human right to life, which is proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In addition, confessions are often obtained under pressure or other means that do not allow the right to appeal, and death sentences on terrorism charges are imposed following speedy but unfair proceedings. In addition, no judicial system is immune from errors. This means that with the death penalty in the state, innocent people will inevitably be executed from time to time.

The 8th UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in his message dedicated to the Day against the Death Penalty, in 2016 called for the abolition of the death penalty, including for those convicted of terrorism, explaining that capital punishment does not lead to a decrease crime rate. According to him, «effective counter-terrorism measures, like all security operations, must be based on human rights and the rule of law». In addition, the use of the death penalty not only does not prevent terrorism, but even contributes to its spread. «Experience shows that the execution of terrorists is used by their organizations for propaganda purposes by creating the image of martyrs, which increases the effectiveness of recruitment campaigns for new supporters»,– explained Ban Ki-moon.

In general, the death penalty leads to the dehumanization of society and gives rise to cruelty among people. Academician Andrei Sakharov said: «The presence of the institution of the death penalty dehumanizes society. I spoke out and oppose the death penalty (and not only in the USSR) also because this punishment provides for the presence of a permanent terrible apparatus of perpetrators, an entire institution of the death penalty». In countries where the death penalty is allowed, executioners are, in fact, legal killers. Thus, the state justifies murder in the public consciousness and undermines the fundamental principle of public morality and morality as the complete inviolability of human life….

Death penalty – cruel, degrading and ineffective punishment. Its use is associated with arbitrariness, discrimination and mistakes. Therefore, to draw attention to the issue of the death penalty and reduce its use, World Day against the Death Penalty was established.

This date is traditionally timed to coincide with the holding of many events in different countries of the world – from cultural and educational programs to diplomatic actions and protests. Among the most popular – are thematic exhibitions, concerts, flash mobs, press conferences, public debates with the participation of experts, former prisoners, relatives of victims of those executed in order to raise awareness of the essence of the death penalty.



Postcard «October 10 — World Death Penalty Day»

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