“A first in the region”, highlighted Aminata Niakaté, President of ECPM, who opened the event and called on all abolitionist actors to come together and open dialogue in the region to nurture the hope of abolition, and to recall that despite complex geopolitical issues, 20 OIC member countries have abolished the death penalty in law and practice, and 12 have established a moratorium on executions.
Our partners Taghreed Jaber, Regional Director of Penal Reform International in the Middle East & North Africa, and Asem Rababa, Director of the Adaleh Center for Human Right Studies, also took the floor to stress the challenges facing human rights defenders in the region, and outline their expectations of the event.
The day continued with a first plenary session to contextualise the fight against the death penalty in the Middle East, followed by a round-table discussion on the legal framework for capital punishment in Egypt, Iran and Saudi Arabia. The day ended with two workshops focusing on the struggle of lawyers on one end, and the journalists and media’s issues.
ECPM warmly thanks all those who contributed to the success of this first day, in particular our panelists, our teams of volunteers, the Crescendo Music and Art Academy for the musical interludes and the teams of interpreters who ensured that everyone’s understanding of the discussions. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow for a new day of debates!
