The first world congress against the death penalty...

The first world congress against the death penalty opened in Strasbourg bringing together politicians, lawyers, human rights workers and former death row inmates.
The goal of the congress, organised by a French group opposed to the death penalty under the auspices of the European Parliament and the Council of Europe, a 43-member human rights body, is to call for a worldwide moratorium on executions.
"Nothing can justify the execution of minors or people with mental disabilities. Death can never be an act of justice," French President Jacques Chirac wrote in a letter to the congress.