28/11/2005

DEATH PENALTY: CIAMPI, LETTA AND TUTU BACK S.EGIDIO

"The Italian government confirms its commitment on a death penalty moratorium, as per UN proposal", according to Cabinet Undersecretary Gianni Letta, in his message to the "Sant'Egidio" Catholic NGO on the eve of the 4th International Death Penalty Abolition meeting in Rome. Attending events hosted by Sant'Egidio has called together the justice ministers of Senegal, Morocco, Togo, Burundi, Liberia, Niger, Malawi, Benin, Burkina Faso and the Central African Republic. The Ministers were accompanied by a Vatican delegation to meet Italian President Ciampi. "Africa has made immense progress on the issue of the death penalty's abolition: 13 states have abolished the death penalty, 20 have enacted a de facto moratorium. "21 states continue to apply the death penalty but only eight of them have applied it in recent years", says Sant'Egidio spokesman Mario Marazziti. "Lets make the death penalty a thing of the past", says Nobel Peace Prize winner Pace Desmond Tutu. "A moratorium is not enough, we need to reinstate the importance of a right to life", says Constitutional Court Chair Giovanni Maria Flick, who went on to add "that there are 76 countries worldwide which still apply the death penalty". "We need international and supranational efforts", adds Sant'Egidio's Mario Giro, who added that "Europe and Africa need to act as partners: it may be early days for a Euro-African culture".