Italian Senate Motion on the Moratorium on Executions (1-00363)

The Senate, whereas: the Italian Government introduced a draft resolution calling for a global moratorium on executions and the abolition of the death penalty before the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 1997 and 1998; the Italian draft resolution was passed by a large majority of votes during the two sessions of the Commission on Human Rights and the number of cosponsoring countries increased from 49 in 1997 to 65 in 1998; in compliance with Motion no. 1-00273 passed by the Senate on 16 July 1998, the Italian Government urged the European Union to introduce this year a draft resolution to abolish the death penalty before the Commission on Human Rights and Germany, as President of the EU, has already started negotiations with the other European partners to agree on a common text to be tabled during the 55th session of the Commission on Human Rights; the situation concerning the death penalty throughout the world has substantially improved, for the 1998 Hands off Cain Report shows that out of the 185 UN Member States, 82 have abolished the death penalty (of which 59 abolished it completely, 16 abolished it for common crimes, and 7 committed themselves to doing so before the Council of Europe), while 26 are de facto abolitionist and only 77 retain it; this makes it possible to increase the number of countries cosponsoring the draft resolution that the European Union will introduce at the next session of the Commission on Human Rights and to pass a stronger resolution than those passed in the two previous sessions; for the purposes of the next session of the Commission on Human Rights, to be held in Geneva in March-April 1999, and of the vote of the United Nations General Assembly (September-December 1999) it is necessary that awareness-raising action to promote the moratorium resolution be continued, also through missions to countries in other continents, as was successfully done by Senate delegations to Russia, the United States, the Philippines, Geneva and, recently, to the conference at New York University where the ambassadors of Germany and Finland to the United Nations committed themselves to submitting the draft death penalty moratorium resolution before that organization, on behalf of the European Union; the rejection of extradition requests to countries where the defendant may be sentenced to death is proving more and more a tool to exert anti-death penalty pressure; a tool that Italy has been the first country to use, since the cases of Pietro Venezia in 1995-96 and Abdullah Ocalan in 1998; according to widespread international practice, a death sentence may not be imposed for crimes committed by persons under eighteen years of age, whereby the reservations expressed by some countries on Art. 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights should be considered null and void; following the resolutions passed by the Commission on Human Rights, the role of the United Nations to support the abolition process should be strengthened, especially by enabling the High Commissioner for Human Rights to gather more information on the death penalty issue throughout the world and to act timely in capital cases, so that the High Commissioner may issue recommendations requesting the abolition of the death penalty; commits the Government to continue to provide Italy´s crucial support on the occasion of the next session of the Commission on Human Rights, especially by:

taking all appropriate action in order to increase the number of countries cosponsoring the draft resolution for a global moratorium on executions and the abolition of the death penalty, which will be submitted this year by the European Union; taking all appropriate action during the negotiations of the fifteen members, in order to include in the resolution a paragraph prohibiting countries supporting the abolition of the death penalty from granting extradition to defendants who may be sentenced to death; a paragraph urging countries to withdraw the reservations expressed on Art. 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights relating to death sentences imposed on persons under eighteen years of age; a paragraph relating to the request to be made to countries retaining the death penalty to provide the High Commissioner for Human Rights with information on the dates of sentences and executions; and a paragraph relating to the request to be made to the High Commissioner for Human Rights to develop technical consultancy and assistance programs in the field of human rights, particularly with regard to the abolition of the death penalty.

Submitted by Senators: Salvato, Gasperini, La Loggia, Maceratini, Marino, Napoli Roberto, Pieroni, Pinto, Rigo, Salvi, De Luca Athos, Fumagalli Carulli, Milio, Scopelliti.