INDEX

The American death row inmate heard the news less than one hour before he was scheduled to die. From Huntsville to Paris, activists demand that new evidence be examined.

After Taiwan’s justice minister was forced to step down for not signing execution warrants, local and international abolitionists rushed in to restore a balanced debate and protect the country’s 44 death row inmates.

A wide variety of abolitionist actors gathered in Geneva between February 24-26 for the 4th World Congress Against the Death Penalty. After three days of working sessions, the participants called on abolitionist states and internatinonal institutions to support their efforts.

The US, Iran, China and Japan hold a strategic cultural or geographic position, but the road to abolition remains blocked in those countries.

Five African icons in the struggle against the death penalty joined together to debate the transition from a moratorium on executions to full legal abolition.

Caroline Muchuma, contributor to the round table on the vital role played by lawyers in defending those sentenced to death, describing her role as a lawyer and campaigner in Uganda.

Wen-Yu Weng (19), a student and debating coach from Thailand who attended the World Congress workshop on educational strategies, thinks young teenagers are mature enough to understand the death penalty debate – just like she did.

The teenage nephews of an American death row inmate started an anti-death penalty organization that has grown into a pillar of the Texas abolitionist community.

Luis Arroyo Zapatero is the head of the Institute for European and International law at the University of Castilla-La-Mancha. In 2009, he kick-started the foundation of the International Academic Network for the Abolition of Capital Punishment.

According to Amnesty International (2009), 21% of world executions take place in the Middle-East and North Africa. Only one of the 22 Arab League countries is abolitionist: Djibouti.