In a Conference made in Rome in view of October 10, the “World Day Against the death penalty”, Hands Off Cain presented the dossier “Sakineh and the others” about lapidation in the world and showed a video concerning the Iranian Resistance with images of a double lapidation made by Mullah’s Regime.
During the Conference, which had the presence of Marco Pannella, Sergio D’Elia, the Radical Parliamentarians Elisabetta Zamparutti and Marco Perduca, the President of Iranian Democratic Women in Italy Association Shahrzad Sholeh, Hands Off Cain threw up two priority objectives of his initiative in order to implement UN pro-moratorium Resolution.
The first one is about Africa, which is the continent where there is the greater number of abolitionist Countries and where, in the last years, have been steps forward the abolition of death penalty. The aim of Hands Off Cain is the abolition in the next year in, at least, three African Countries: Benin, Gabon and the Republic of Congo. The 12th October, a delegation of Hands Off Cain will be in Zambia, first stop of a mission that in two weeks will visit other three African Countries: The Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo and Mali.
The second one is about the General Assembly UN Building where the new open session has in its agenda a new pro Moratorium Resolution on the Death Penalty.
The vote on the Resolution is expected for December and Hands Off Cain has started a lobby action in order to increase the number of cosponsors (they were 89 in the 2008), votes for (106 in the 2008) and to strengthen the new text on four points: the abolition of “state secrecy” regarding the death penalty;
the restriction of the death penalty to the most serious crimes; the abolition of the mandatory death sentence for some kind of crimes; institution of a UN Special Observer who has the mandate to promote the real application of UN strategy in the Countries that still use death penalty and to try to manage, through the moratoriums, to the final death penalty abolition.
A motion presented by Elisabetta Zamparutti, that involves the Government in this way, passed in the Chamber of Deputies last 6th October.

Translation: Elisa Corrà