Annie Nisenson
On 16 November 2010, the International Commission against the Death Penalty (ICDP) issued one of their very first collective statements, opposing the possible executions of three alleged child offenders, who were sentenced to death in Darfur on 21 October.
The ICDP, which was officially established on 7 October 2010, was founded as part of an effort to join in the on-going and extensive struggle against the use of the death penalty led by civil society and the United Nations.
The most immediate objective of the ICDP is to promote a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty, to take place by 2015, followed by a long-term goal of universal abolition. Made up of a 10-member Commission, the ICDP has the support and guidance from 14 countries from around the world: Argentina, Dominican Republic, France, Italy, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Mongolia, Philippines, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey.
Members of the commission are former government officials and respected opponents of the death penalty. The Prime Minister of Spain and the President of the Commission, Federico Mayor Zaragoza, described the members as “true masters in the defense of human rights,” pulling together distinct experiences and insight in a common effort to do away with capital punishment.
In addition to seeking a universal moratorium, the ICDP is committed to interceding in specific cases where International Law explicitly prohibits the use of the death penalty. Citing Article 37 (a) of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, which Sudan ratified on 3 August 1990, the Commission highlighted signatory nations’ obligation to ensure that, “Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offenses committed by persons below eighteen years of age”.
We applaud the Commission’s statement and support their efforts to bring the possible execution of these children to the world’s attention.
Text of the ICDP’s founding document available here
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