20th World day against the death penalty : programme of the events
6 October 2022
On 10 October 2022, the global abolitionist community will celebrate the 20th World Day against the Death Penalty. The main objective of the 2022 World Day is to raise public awareness around how the death penalty can amount to torture and build consensus that the definition of torture should be understood to include practices in connection with the death penalty. From a broader perspective, it aims to convince that the death penalty should be abolished as an unjust and arbitrary response to crime.
Figures on the Death Penalty in the World :
- At least 28 000 people were sentenced to death in the world as of 2021
- As of 2021, 108 abolitionist states have abolished the death penalty
- As of 2021, 52 States still used the death penalty
- Equatorial Guinea is the latest state to abolish the death penalty
- In 2022, 2 States removed the death penalty from their legal system (CAR and Equatorial Guinea)
- In 2022, 11 States still sentence people to death for homosexuality
The programme
As every year, ECPM and its partners are organising various events to raise awareness, commemorations and mobilisations in France and around the world on this occasion, with the financial support of the European Union, the French Development Agency, Norway, the Fondation de France, Switzerland and Belgium.
FRANCE:
School interventions: 500 pupils will meet a former death row inmate and exchange on the death penalty
In order to perpetuate the abolitionist struggle in France, ECPM is organising a new series of school interventions from 10 to 14 October, 2022. 19 classes from 8 schools in the Ile de France region (Paris periphery) will have the opportunity to discuss the death penalty through educational videos, films, games and creative activities, followed by the testimony of Ndume Olatushani, with whom the pupils will be able to exchange views. These interventions are made possible thanks to the mobilisation of 6 volunteers and our two civic services: a big thank to them!
Ndume spent 28 years in prison, 20 of them on death row in the United States, for a crime he did not commit. Deeply affected by the discovery of drawing and painting, and supported throughout his imprisonment by his family and abolitionist organisations, he continues today to engage strongly with young people against the death penalty.
WORLDWIDE:
Launch of the 2022 "Draw me the Abolition" contest
On the occasion of the 20th World Day against the Death Penalty, young people from all over the world are invited to participate in the 6th edition of the "Draw me abolition" competition to create a poster against the death penalty. The 50 best posters selected by an international jury will be exhibited in the participating countries and at the next Congresses against the death penalty organised by ECPM. A trilingual exhibition catalogue will also be published to highlight the creativity and commitment of the young people. Registration for the competition is free of charge and, subject to availability of places, may entitle the young people to a presentation by ECPM or one of its partners to raise their awareness of human rights and the abolition of the death penalty.
In Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania, Lebanon, DRC, Cameroon, Indonesia and Malaysia, abolitionists are also gathering to fight against the death penalty. A wide range of actors and networks will gather (parliamentarians, teachers, lawyers, journalists...) around various militant events, including arts, conferences, debates, theatre and workshops, in order to reach a large audience and to let abolitionists from all walks of life express themselves. Great witnesses of the abolition, such as Ahmed Haou (former death row inmate in Morocco), will also share their stories. Download the programme now (in French only)!
