INDEX

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.

European Union support to human rights projects is a well-known fact. Abolitionist organizations are among its beneficiaries.

You can devote your life to crime reduction in retentionist countries and affirm your opposition to the death penalty. James Abbott is a member of this growing category.

At least 76% of executions worldwide take place in Asia. Despite these impressive figures, Bikramjeet Batra, and indian lawyer with Amnesty International, is optimistic and explains that “the asian trend is toward abolition”.