4. World Congress Against the Death Penalty
Geneva 24. - 26. February 2010

 



The ALIVE Board attended the congress.

Following a short report:

We took a plane to Geneva on Wednesday evening and arrived at our hotel sometime after midnight. After a short and almost sleepless night we went to the congress center the next morning. There the round tables and meetings started at 9 am.

After arriving we started with the set up of our ALIVE-stand. During the congress we found out that we had enough flyers, but we would have been able to pass out far more buttons. It was a good thing, that we had a big banner with us that made our stand recognizable as ALIVE-stand very well.

       

 
The Thursday morning we spent with taking care for our stand and get us an overview about all.
Many organization had a stand and there were also some very interesting exhibitions to see. We visited all stands to get informed about the work of the other organizations. Also visited them to get ideas. This was our first congress participation and therefore it was important to us to see the various ways of presentation. Unfortunately we decided at pretty short notice to go to Geneva and therefore it was too late for a participation at the poster session for example. We consider to attend at the next congress.

     

  
 
We have of course visited all exhibitions. Especially impressing was the reproduction of a Texas death row cell. Even though it was not the first time we saw something like this, it is each time again terrifying that human beings are forced to live their dire existence on such a small space. The inhumanity "death row" became within reach while standing in this cell and closing the door.

     


It was also nightmarish to enter a dark room and find their an electric chair, it was dimly lit and a human being sitting there was indicated. The discomfort we felt in this room was most likely only a tiny part of the horror the persons have felt who got executed on the electric chair. And there is certainly not much difference to the terror felt by humans until today that enter a death chamber knowing that they will not leave it alive again. It doesn't matter, if somebody gets executed by the electric chair or by any other method, the result is the same: A human life gets erased in a cold blooded, well calculated and barbarous manner!

  

 

After a small snack at noon we particated in the second plenary session that displayed strategies in regard to the abolition of the death penalty. It was about four countries: the Iran, China, the USA, and Japan.

Especially interesting for us was of course the US, because ALIVE is involved there directly. The US speakers were a state representative from New Mexico, a former Attorney General of the State of California and District Attorney of Los Angeles – who vividly explained that all points in favor of the death penalty are complete nonsense when giving it a closer look -, and a former journalist of the  Chicago Tribune. The Tribune started years ago investigating the death penalty in the own state of Illinois (that was leading to a moratorium and an official investiation of the state death penalty at the end) and it also researched cases of death row inmates, e. g. Carlos de Luna and Todd Willingham from Texas. Both got wrongly excuted. It was a little strange how much especially both the first speakers focussed on the costs of the death penalty. However, it doesn't matter at all which reasons finally will lead to abolition. What counts is that the death penalty will be abolished - better today than tomorrow!

     
 
 

 

After the plenary session we went back to our stand.

And then we had a longer talk with members of the  Community of Sant Egidio from Germany and Italy. We agreed to stay in closer contact in future and intensify cooperation.

The event of the evening „Words from the Victims“ took place at a very beautiful building directly at the shore of the Rhone.

The event started with slight delay (scheduled was 8 pm) and went on until almost midnight. Speakers of the evening were people like Renny Cushing, Bill Pelke, Robert Curley and others, who lost loved ones by murder and still oppose the death penalty.


Renny Cushing for example stated that we has always opposed the death penatly and if he had changed his view on that after his Dad got murdered, he would have lost his Dad and his values. 

Robert Curley described who he changed from being pro-death penalty - he fought for re-enacting the death penalty in his home state of Massachusetts after his 10-year-old son got murdered - to an opponent of the final punishment.

One of the speakers was Bill Babbit, whose brother was excuted in California. Manny Babbit was suffering from post traumactic stress disorder after returning from the Vietnam war. He killed an older woman during a flashback. His brother lead the police to him, because he believed that Manny had something to do with the death of the woman. They assured him that Manny would get the needed medical treatment and not the death penalty. Despite this he was sentenced to death and executed. Bill Babbit said that he turned his brother in to the authorities because he did not want to have blood on his hands, because he was afraid that Manny could kill again. He said also that he now has to live with the fact that he has the blood of his own brother on his hands.

Impressing were also Jo Berry and Pat Magee. Jo's father was killed by an assassination by the IRA in 1984. Pat Magee was part of the IRA back then and planted the bomb. They met for the first time in the year of 2000. Their talks caused Pat Magee to understand that planting bombs is not the right way. In the meantime he is actively involed in the peace movement. He said, if Great Britain had the death penalty back in 1984, he would have been sentenced to it and he would have been executed. But then he never would have gotten the chance to realize that he was wrong...

 

  
Renny Cushing                                                Robert Curley
 

  
Bill Babbit                                                 Photo of Manny Babbit
 

  
Jo Berry                                                       Pat Magee
 
Within the evening there was also a talk with Sandrine, the wife of Hank Skinner. She called the attorney of her husband and he informed us over speaker-phone about all the ongoing efforts to save Hank's life.

Then we lead attorney for Mumia Abu Jamal came to the stage. He had a call from his client live from Pennsylvania's death row. Again the call was put on speaker-phone and we all were able to hear Mumia's message to the congress.

It was truly a very moving evening. The music that accompanied the evening came from Emily Loizeau who says: "The death penalty infuriates me."


 


On the next morning we went back to the conference center. Further talks followed. The solemn ceremony started a little late. Special highlight was  the speech by Sr. Helen Prejean and of course reading the final declaration of the congress.

Declaration

     
 
After the solemn ceremony the marsh to the place of the United Nations followed. Shortly before the marsh started it was raining cats and dogs, but with the start the rain faded. It was not a long way to go. On the place of the United Nations balloons were let free and flew high in the air.
And we had a chance to talk to Sr. Helen on the verge of the marsh.

  

     
 
With this the congress ended on Friday afternoon and on Saturday morning we went on our flight back home.

This is just a short report and it does not justice to the whole congress. It was a very special experience to meet people from all over the world. More than 1,700 participants from over 100 countries came to Geneva. Und we all were connected by one big goal:

THE UNIVERSAL ABOLITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY!

 
letztes Update: 06.03.10
(c) ALIVE e.V.