The 14th International Congress of Ministers of Justice ‘No justice without life’ in Rome on 28 November 2024, comes at ‘right’ point on the path towards the abolition of the death penalty. A few days ago, on 18 November, the UN General Assembly's Third Committee approved the resolution on the moratorium against the death penalty with 131 votes in favour. This was a historic vote with a never-before-seen turnout (learn more), and in a few weeks the vote will take place at the UN General Assembly.
It is therefore particularly significant that this meeting has brought together some 30 Ministers of Justice from both abolitionist and retentionist countries for a frank and constructive discussion.
The President of the Community of Sant'Egidio, Marco Impagliazzo, emphasised in his introductory address the need for a strong commitment to life ‘in all its forms’, which the Community has embraced: from action for the abolition of the death penalty, to attention to prisons, with the defence of the dignity of prisoners, in Italy and around the world, to the protection of refugees from wars and conflict situations.
‘The Community of Sant'Egidio is aware the victory towards the definitive abolition of capital punishment needs no fear of gradualism,’ Mario Marazziti echoed him, ‘humanising concrete life in prison, breaking isolation, reducing crimes that can be punished with the death penalty, excluding the vulnerable from the number of people who can be executed, from women with children, the mentally disabled, children, commuting death sentences into certain but non-death sentences, ..... That is why we think that even humanising life in prisons and on death rows is a first step: not to inflict an additional, unwritten penalty to the one already imposed. And not to humiliate our judicial systems by producing more anger and violence. (read the full text - IT).
Progress of the Campaign cited by Mario Marazziti included the fact that in Africa the number of abolitionist countries rose from 5 to 24 and that last year only 2 out of 55 countries applied the death penalty. His hope, underlined by warm applause in the hall, was that Africa could become the second continent free of the death penalty.
This was followed by contributions from South Africa, a leading country in the affirmation of restorative justice, Zambia and Malawi. The ‘youngest’ country present, East Timor, founded in 1999 with a Constitution that does not provide for capital punishment, illustrated the path of reconciliation after the independence war.
The Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, insisted on the importance of supporting the enlargement of countries backing the Universal Moratorium on Executions, and reiterated Italy's commitment to open a dialogue and ‘convince’ retentionist countries to open up in this direction.
The dialogue continued with contributions from Switzerland, where the last execution dates back more than 500 years, San Marino, and Mongolia. The process of abolition here has led to the commutation of the sentences of the last 39 convicts, and work is underway on a code that provides for rehabilitation methods ‘to promote a more compassionate society and discourage violence’.
The morning session closed with speeches from Zimbabwe and Guinea. Bilateral meetings are planned in the coming days and the Congress will conclude at the Colosseum on Saturday 30 November with a solemn celebration of Cities for Life against the Death Penalty.
