HANDS OFF CAIN

what sort fate awaits Al Qaeda terrorists? What kind of justice will be meted out to them once they are captured? Do we still say ‘no’ to the death penalty in the case of Osama Bin Laden and those responsible for the attacks on New York and Washington?
It’s easy to launch appeals to save Safiya, the Nigerian mother of an 11-month old child, condemned to death by stoning by an Islamic court for a sexual relationship outside wedlock.
It’s not easy to defend Bin Laden, who is seen as responsible for the deaths of over 3,000 innocents. We are not moved by his plight. But it’s just in such cases that one really takes a stand in favour or against the death penalty.
A case in point is HOC’s resolution for a moratorium on executions and against the extradition of terrorists to countries that practice the death penalty. It was tabled in the Italian Chamber of Representatives over a month ago, however, in view of the terrorism emergency, the motion has not yet even been scheduled for discussion.
The guest speakers at Wednesday’s press conference, alongside the Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda Carla Del Ponte and the photographer Oliviero Toscani, are Radical MEP Marco Pannella and American lawyer Annabelle Hall, a member of the National Association of Criminal Defence Lawyers.
HOC General Secretary Sergio D’Elia and Board Member Elisabetta Zamparutti will host the press conference at 12.30 CET at Via di Torre Argentina 76, Rome.
Oliviero Toscani’s new anti-death penalty poster will be the backdrop.

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