Sergio D'Elia and Elisabetta Zamparutti, HOC Secretary...

Sergio D'Elia and Elisabetta Zamparutti, HOC Secretary and Treasurer respectively, met with Kenyan Interior Minister, Moody Awori.
"We were abolitionists even when we were in opposition, with the main supporter of abolition being the current Justice Minister," Minister Awori said.
Regarding the moratorium issue, the Minister said that in view of the arrival of the HOC delegation, the government had a Ministerial reunion in order to decide its position on the matter.
Kenya is currently revising its constitution, one of its objectives is the elimination of the death penalty. For this reason the Minister was unable to tell us how the country would vote on a moratorium resolution. He said, however, that the government has already decided to vote against the Singapore amendment on national sovereignty, as for them the death penalty is a human rights issue and on human rights issues there is no sovereignty to protect.
The day after the HOC delegation, together with Emma Bonino MEP, met with Justice Minister Murungi together with vice Justice Minister Githae.
Regarding the UN moratorium Murungi declared: "I recommended we give our full support to a pro moratorium resolution."
On the Singapore amendment he said: "Our country is on its way to abolishing the death penalty in its constitution, it would be a contradiction to support the amendment on domestic jurisdiction."
The delegation then met with Foreign Minister Joab Omino who said: "Seeing as a de facto moratorium has been in place in the country in the last 20 years and that hopefully abolition will by then also be provided for by the Constitution, we will vote in favour."
On August 9, the delegation together with Domenico Polloni, First Secretary of the Italian Embassy in Nairobi, visited the maximum security prison in Kamiti.
Commissioner for prisons J. I. Odono gave the official position of the Department regarding the issue of capital punishment. He said that the death penalty should be abolished for three reasons: it is contrary to the principle of rehabilitation, it is outdated and there is the risk of executing innocent people.
The following day the delegation, together with Emma Bonino and the Italian Ambassador to Nairobi, Carlo Calia, met with Minister, Deputy Prime-Minister of the Cabinet, Lina Kilimo, who restated her governments commitments not only towards the abolition of the death penalty in her country, but also in support of the campaign for a UN moratorium on executions. "I'm happy to be together with you in this campaign for human rights," Kilimo declared.
Five Kenyan non governmental organisations, including the Kenya Human Rights Commission and the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, have given their support to the campaign for a moratorium on capital executions at the next UN General Assembly.