LAUNCH OF HANDS OFF CAIN’S 2002 REPORT

Friday 28 June 2002 at 10.45 amVia di Torre Argentina 76 (third floor)RomeSPEAKERSSergio D’EliaSecretary of Hands Off CainElisabetta ZamparuttiEditor of the 2002 ReportMarco PannellaAuthor of the preface to the 2002 ReportMario BacciniUnder Secretary for Foreign AffairsIdris Sanneh TV commentatorErping Zhang International spokesperson for Falun Gong Also present: Hands Off Cain testimonials, Ambassadors and Members of Parliament.The 2002 Report is dedicated to the President of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo, whose merits in the field include the successful resolution of Safiya Hussaini’s case. This year’s report confirms the trend towards the abolition of the death penalty that has been rapidly gaining momentum for the last ten years. Notwithstanding this trend, the number of executions continues to escalate. In 2001, of the 4,700 executions carried out worldwide, more than 98% were implemented in authoritarian or totalitarian countries. Hands Off Cain believes the way to combat this rising number of executions in these countries lies in the quest for democracy, the rule of law, human rights and, in particular, religious freedom. Hands Off Cain’s press conference will focus on the use of the death penalty to repress spiritual movements exemplified by the death sentences passed on Bible traders and Falun Gong adherents in China, Christians and Buddhists in Vietnam and the members of clandestine churches in North Korea.The launch of the 2002 Report will also provide an opportunity for a briefing on the progress of Hands Off Cain’s campaign for a worldwide moratorium on executions now sponsored by the European Union and the Nazionale Italiana Cantanti. The moratorium campaign aims for the approval by the UN General Assembly of a moratorium resolution by 2003.