HOC MEETS PRODI AND FRATTINI AS EUROPEAN MISSION ENDS

the European mission conducted by former governor of Illinois and current Hands Off Cain Honorary President George Ryan, together with Leroy Orange, ex death row inmate who is alive thanks to the moratorium on executions introduced by the governor in his state, came to an end on Monday in Brussels.
In the morning an HOC delegation consisting of President Marco Pannella, Secretary Sergio D’Elia, Treasurer Elisabetta Zamparutti, Board Member Anna Zammit, together with Ryan and Orange, met with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini just before the commencement of the EU General Affairs Council meeting he was to preside over. On the agenda was the European Parliament and Italian Presidency’s proposal of presenting, at the ongoing UN General Assembly, a resolution in favour of a universal moratorium on capital executions.
The HOC deelegation later met the President of the European Commission Romano Prodi, who gave his support towards Hands Off Cain’s campaign.
“Putting an end to the death penalty is not only an act of prudence, but also one of wisdom,” Prodi said at the end of the meeting.
In the evening Ryan and Orange participated at a conference held at the European Parliament which saw the presentation of the English edition of Hands Off Cain’s 2003 Report: The Death Penalty Worldwide, and the launch of an online signature campaign, aimed at EU Parliamentarians, for a universal moratorium on capital executions.
Both initiatives were sponsored by the European Union.
The European mission by Governor Ryan and Leroy Orange was realised in collaboration with Alitalia.

PERPLEXITY ON BEHALF OF THE EU TOWARDS A UN MORATORIUM, BUT THE ISSUE REMAINS ON THE AGENDA

September 29, 2003: the EU General Affairs Council is still undecided whether to present a common resolution for a universal moratorium on capital executions at the ongoing UN General Assembly in New York. Following opposition towards the initiative by the EU Foreign Ministers on July 21, the issue was once again put to the table by Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini during the working lunch which took place on Monday in Brussels.
During a press conference following the lunch, Frattini said that the worldwide moratorium objective was shared by EU member states but that there were differences in tactics as to when to put forward the resolution proposal at the UN. “Some Ministers are worried,” Frattini said, “that a negative outcome on the resolution would be even more negative for abolition”. The EU, however, still has the moratorium issue on its agenda, Frattini said.
On commenting the outcome of the General Affairs Council, Hands Off Cain President Marco Pannella accused the Ministers of only stating the reasons why this initiative should not go ahead and not why it would be ideal to go ahead with it.
Regarding the possible outcome at the General Assembly, which Frattini had deemed as “probably negative”, Hands Off Cain Secretary Sergio D’Elia stated: “For months now, all 15 EU member states have been in possession of our documents with a list of countries and how they will vote at the General Assembly.
No one has ever said: I don’t agree with your predictions, this is wrong.” D’Elia said that a moratorium resolution voted at New York’s UN headquarters could be approved with 95-100 votes in favour, 61-65 against and 22-31 abstentions. An amendment on “domestic jurisdiction”, which would certainly be put forward by Egypt and Singapore, together with other retentionist states, would be able to count on the backing of 63 co-sponsors and would be defeated with 95 votes against, 79 votes in favour, 13 abstentions and 4 undecided which would either vote against or abstain.”