All about Murder Victims’ Families

On October 26, abolitionists all around the world celebrated the release of Cheng Hsing-Tse, originally sentenced to death in 2006. This successful outcome highlights the work of numerous organizationss which assist death row survivors.

Khachig Ghosn is a 22-year-old student of social work at the Lebanese University. Three years ago, he witnessed an explosion in Beirut. Despite this dramatic experience, he is against the use of the death penalty and he is convinced that capital executions have no deterrent effect on terrorism.Ghosn is aware that changes in his country take a very long time, but he has a positive long-term vision and hopes that the death penalty will be abolished.

A conference organized by Journey of Hope is just one among the many activities carried out around World Day against the Death Penalty in the U.S.

US-based World Coalition member Journey of Hope answers the call to tour Uganda and strengthen the fight against the death penalty in the country.

The World Coalition has redesigned its online library to help visitors find the documents they need in its multilingual database of resources and campaigning tools on capital punishment.

Lawmakers in the US State of Connecticut have abolished capital punishment and the State’s governor has said that he would sign the bill into law. Elizabeth Zitrin of the US NGO Death Penalty Focus chairs the World Coalition’s working group on the United States. She writes on the significance of this news for the wider abolitionist movement.

A two-day conference organised by the Community of Sant’Egidio on the death penalty in the Greater Caribbean took place in Madrid between 17-19 October, highlighting issues of rising crime and international influence in the region.

Conferences, round tables, talks, tours, meetings with politicians, debates, press conferences, sit-ins, cultural evenings, marches and speeches are among the many events that will take place in Africa for this 9th World Day Against the Death Penalty.

International abolitionists gathered on the Caribbean territory to promote their message and to show solidarity with the local authorities against capital punishment.

At a meeting in Brussels in July, European institutions and NGOs restated their commitment to a long-term partnership to oppose the death penalty worldwide.

World Coalition member organisation Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights held public events and meetings with victims and leaders during a recent tour of South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.

Parents and friends of those killed fill a growing space in the debate on the death penalty and, increasingly, this is to call for abolition rather than vengeance.

A former death row inmate and the grandson of a murder victim explain why compassion – not the death penalty – is the way to heal wounds.

Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights and the National Alliance on Mental Illness slam the use of capital punishment against mentally ill people in the United States.

Thai human rights activists led by the Union for Civil Liberty (UCL) organised a series of seminars with religious leaders to raise their awareness and discuss their perspectives on abolition.

Two leading American grassroots organisations have come together to raise awareness about the execution of mentally ill defendants.

The majority of executions take place in Asia. But this is also the continent where campaigners have developed a fantastic regional abolitionist network, one that reaches across borders, languages and religions.

Over 75 people attended the conference focussing on the legal and social perspectives of the abolition of capital punishment in Beyrouth on October 17.