VietNamNet Bridge – On June 12, the fifth world conference against the death penalty opened in Madrid, Spain. The event, held by Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM,) with the support of Spain, Norway, Switzerland and France, attracts 1,500 delegates from 90 countries.

ECPM Director Raphaël Chenuil-Hazan: a vicious cycle of violence is violence.

VietNamNet’s reporter talked with ECPM director Raphaël Chenuil-Hazan about this event.

What is the message of the conference, with the guests including former death row prisoners and Nobel Peace Prize winners?

That is the power of testimonies.

Nobel Prizes are moral and international figures against the death penalty; their voices are beyond any political considerations. They have the experience of strong commitments in favor of Human rights: and the first of the rights is the right to live.

The witnesses of death penalty can make feel better than anyone the ugly and dirty reality of the death penalty system. The testimony of Robert Curley who lost his 5 years old son killed by two men or Bud Welch who lost his 23 year old daughter in Oklahoma Terrorist bombing, to strongly support the abolition of the death penalty is also a symbolic voice for peace and non violence to show that revenge will never bring back their son or daughter, but they only want justice.

At least the voices of exonerates from death penalty is the most powerful argument against the death penalty. Since 20 years just in the US we have identified more than 140 innocent people on death rows. Many others are now in the worldwide jails crying for their innocence, waiting for their sentence, one day, maybe tomorrow (sometimes this tomorrow go on for years and years).

We will try to initiate an awakening of consciences for the national opinions everywhere in the world. It is important to explain to the public opinions and especially the youth the reality of the death penalty.

We also expect from diplomacy to ratify some international treaties as the 2nd additional protocol to PIDCP or the UN resolution for a moratorium on executions.

Some countries will take the opportunity to make significant steps (maybe abolition for Central African Republic, Benin and Mongolia). As memory, 105 countries have abolished the death penalty, 38 are abolitions de facto (that means they do not have applied the DP since more than 10 years). Only 58 countries have executed someone in the past 10 years. Among them, more or less 20 countries execute on a regularly base.

Without the death penalty, how to punish dangerous criminals such as murder, rape, etc.?

Nowadays two thirds of the countries have abolished the death penalty. These countries do not have a higher crime rate than others. It is even the opposite. Indeed, the circle of violence is violence. How can you show that killing is wrong by killing someone else?

The death penalty had never been a deterrent to crime. So if we maintain the death penalty against the more dangerous crime, it is not a question of prevention to crimes but just a question of revenge. We want to kill the killer. The experience of two thirds of humanity shows that it is possible to stop this cycle.

Hien Anh (from Madrid)