ROME: PRESENTATION OF HOC’S 2016 REPORT AND ‘THE ABOLITIONIST OF THE CENTURY’ AWARD TO MARCO PANNELLA

Wednesday, 3 August 2016 – 16:00
Via di Torre Argentina 76
Rome
 
With the participation of:
 
SERGIO D’ELIA, Secretary of Hands off Cain
ELISABETTA ZAMPARUTTI, Editor of HOC’s 2016 Report
GENNARO MIGLIORE, Under Secretary of the Ministry of Justice
BENEDETTO DELLA VEDOVA, Under Secretary of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs
MAURIZIO TURCO, Treasurer of the Radical Party
MATTEO ANGIOLI, Secretary-General of the Global Committee for the Rule of Law
RITA BERNARDINI, Honorary President of Hands Off Cain
AMBROGIO CRESPI, Director of the docu-film “Spes contra Spem – Liberi dentro”
 
Hands Off Cain’s 2016 Report, edited by Reality Book, presents the most important facts regarding the practice of the death penalty in 2015 and the first six months of 2016.
Data shows that China, Iran and Pakistan were the top three “Executioner-Countries” in the world in 2015, while the top executioners of 2016 (as of 30 June) were China, Iran and Saudi Arabia.
“The Abolitionist of the Year” Award, which is promoted by Hands Off Cain to recognise the person, who, above all others, has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment in the struggle for a moratorium on executions and the abolition of the death penalty, is conferred this year upon Marco Pannella, leader of the Radical Party, Founder and President of Hands Off Cain, who died on 19 May 2016. For the first time, the prize is awarded as a memorial and, for the occasion, changes its name from “The Abolitionist of the Year” to “The Abolitionist of the Century”, in consideration of the twenty years that Marco Pannella dedicated to putting an end to inhumane and degrading treatment and punishment, anywhere in the world.
During the event, Hands Off Cain will also present the objectives of its ongoing campaigns: to contain the death penalty in times of “war on terror”; to strengthen the next Pro-Moratorium Resolution that will be voted by the UN General Assembly in 2016; to put an end to the death penalty, but also to the penalty until death (“Spes contra Spem” Project).