ARCHIVE · INTERVENTIONS AND AWARDS
AUGUST 29, 2007“THE ABOLITIONIST OF THE YEAR” AWARD
“The Abolitionist of the Year 2007” Award, which is presented by Hands Off Cain to recognize the person, who, above all others, has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment in the struggle for a moratorium on executions and the abolition of the death penalty, is conferred this year upon President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, whose personal statement is found as the Preface to Hands Off Cain’s 2007 Report and who will receive the Award from the hands of President of the Council of Ministers, Romano Prodi, who wrote the Introduction to this year’s report, once again edited by Elisabetta Zamparutti and published by Reality Book.
On August 25 2003, in Rwanda’s first multi-candidate elections, Paul Kagame was elected to a seven-year term as President of Rwanda. National and local elections were held in September of 2003 and from January to March of 2006, respectively, and were considered by the International Community as the first step towards national reconciliation and democracy, after the civil war in 1990 that ended in genocide in 1994.
Work towards unification and reconciliation intensified with the unfolding of a national plan for the traditional judiciary system, the Gacaca, and the acceleration of the work of the International Criminal Court for Rwanda, which excludes the use of the death penalty.
On January 192007, the Rwandan Government approved a bill abolishing the death penalty in the country and on April 15 decided to sign the “Declaration” of the European Union against the death penalty and sponsor the Resolution for a universal moratorium on executions at the U.N. General Assembly.
After the approval by the Chamber of Deputies on June 8 and the Senate on July 10, the law abolishing the death penalty for all crimes, including genocide, went into effect on July 25 2007, with the ratification by President Kagame and its publication in the Official Gazette of Rwanda.
The abolition was favourably received also by the survivors of the genocide, who rightfully noted that the death penalty existed well before 1994 and “didn’t dissuade people from taking machetes and massacring their fellow citizens.”
The abolition of the death penalty and the adherence to the campaign for a universal moratorium on executions are acts of exceptionally symbolic value, through which Rwanda has emblematically shown the world the possibility of an end to the absurd cycle of vengeance and that justice and lawfulness cannot be achieved with capital punishment.
“The Abolitionist of the Year 2007” Award, a work in bronze created specifically by artist Massimo Liberti, represents the earth as a ball on which children are seated on high and looking off in the distance.
On August 25 2003, in Rwanda’s first multi-candidate elections, Paul Kagame was elected to a seven-year term as President of Rwanda. National and local elections were held in September of 2003 and from January to March of 2006, respectively, and were considered by the International Community as the first step towards national reconciliation and democracy, after the civil war in 1990 that ended in genocide in 1994.
Work towards unification and reconciliation intensified with the unfolding of a national plan for the traditional judiciary system, the Gacaca, and the acceleration of the work of the International Criminal Court for Rwanda, which excludes the use of the death penalty.
On January 192007, the Rwandan Government approved a bill abolishing the death penalty in the country and on April 15 decided to sign the “Declaration” of the European Union against the death penalty and sponsor the Resolution for a universal moratorium on executions at the U.N. General Assembly.
After the approval by the Chamber of Deputies on June 8 and the Senate on July 10, the law abolishing the death penalty for all crimes, including genocide, went into effect on July 25 2007, with the ratification by President Kagame and its publication in the Official Gazette of Rwanda.
The abolition was favourably received also by the survivors of the genocide, who rightfully noted that the death penalty existed well before 1994 and “didn’t dissuade people from taking machetes and massacring their fellow citizens.”
The abolition of the death penalty and the adherence to the campaign for a universal moratorium on executions are acts of exceptionally symbolic value, through which Rwanda has emblematically shown the world the possibility of an end to the absurd cycle of vengeance and that justice and lawfulness cannot be achieved with capital punishment.
“The Abolitionist of the Year 2007” Award, a work in bronze created specifically by artist Massimo Liberti, represents the earth as a ball on which children are seated on high and looking off in the distance.
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