At the informative session in Rome for non-governmental...

At the informative session in Rome for non-governmental organisations in preparation for the World Conference against Racism, Italian NGOs supported Hands Off Cain's proposal for a global moratorium on executions through a UN resolution.
Around 80 Italian NGOs and representatives from Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Americas attended the two-day conference, July 23-24, held at the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
The meeting produced an informative document dealing with sources, forms and contemporary causes of racism; victims or racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia; measures of prevention; and provisions of effective remedies, recourse, redress and other measures at national, regional and international levels.
The document resulting from the Rome meeting also recognised the death penalty as an instrument of subordination against minorities, and supports an international moratorium on executions.
"We state our opposition to the death penalty not only in its political and moral dimensions, but also as a clear instrument for the subordination of minorities and the socially diverse.
"We therefore support the approval of an international moratorium on executions as a first means of blocking abuses against minorities and political opponents. We also propose the promotion of a study to identify the effective function of the application of this instrument in crime deterrence," the document reads. The document was opposed by three NGOs.