27-04-2006
ECPM : What are the international stakes of abolishing the death penalty?
Erik Prokosch : The participants in the International Conference on the Abolition of the Death Penalty organized by Amnesty International in 1977 agreed that "the death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and violates the right to life" (Declaration of Stockholm). In this vein, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights has stated that "the abolition of the death penalty is essential for the protection of [the] right [to life]" (resolution 2005/59 of 20 April 2005). The new UN Human Rights Council should recognize that abolition is essential also for the protection of another fundamental human right - the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.
When a country abolishes the death penalty, it recognizes that the state must not execute prisoners; that prisoners, like all the rest of us, are human beings who must not be deprived of certain fundamental human rights. It is to be hoped that the decision to abolish the death penalty will be followed by other advances in the humane treatment of prisoners, including the abolition of other cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments such as the amputation of limbs and floggings.
ECPM : According to you, how can and should the cause of universal abolition of the death penalty move forward'
Erik Prokosch : Now that nearly all of Europe and Latin America have abolished the death penalty, the challenge is to persuade the countries of other regions to do so -- in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, the USA and the Caribbean. At the same time, the abolitionist movement must remain ready to stop any attempt to bring it back where it has been abolished.
ECPM : What reasons led you to join the Scientific Committee of the 3d World Congress Against the Death Penalty?
Erik Prokosch : I believe that the Congress can make a big contribution to the worldwide abolition of the death penalty. I wanted to do whatever I could to help ensure its success.
ECPM : According to you, what role does this kind of gathering have?
Erik Prokosch : The Congresses offer abolitionists from around the world a chance to meet, to discuss common problems, to learn from each other and to work out common strategies and actions. The regional workshops at the Montreal Congress were especially important in this respect. The Congresses also give an opportunity to reach out to the public and to key sectors of society, to get across the reasons for abolishing the death penalty and to engage more actors in the abolitionist struggle.
Well, each of the Congresses did something new, something that had not been done before. At Strasbourg, it was the joint statement by presidents of parliaments, and the decision to found a worldwide coalition, resulting in the creation of the World Coalition against the Death Penalty. In Montreal, it was a joint recognition of the current state of thinking on issues connected to the death penalty, including the question of alternative punishments and the many ways in which victims are involved, as reflected in the Declaration adopted at the Congress. I was also impressed by the interest aroused in the European news media by the Strasbourg Congress, while in Montreal I was struck by the pledges of support for abolition made by representatives of European governments and others.
