May 7, 2003: former EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner and Hands Off Cain honorary president MEP Emma Bonino welcomed the commitment of the Italian government to present a resolution for a worldwide moratorium on executions to the United Nations General Assembly expressed by Deputy Prime Minister Gianfranco Fini on Tuesday.
In a meeting with former Illinois governor George Ryan, the first US governor to introduce a moratorium on executions at the Prime Minister’s office, Fini said:
“Following consultations with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, I announce the Italian government’s intention to present once more a resolution calling for a worldwide moratorium on executions.”
Bonino welcomed this declaration, describing it as "very important".
Fini emphasised that as EU term president, Italy will present a resolution calling for a moratorium on executions, not total abolition of the death penalty at the UNGA next September.
"Fini is right to present this matter in the terms under which he presented it,” Bonino said, “and that is in such a way as to avoid the abolition of the death penalty being translated into a clash of civilisations.
“The moratorium is a meeting point, the minimum common denominator between countries that retain the death penalty and the abolitionists. On the one hand, retentionists could take a step towards abolition, and on the other, abolitionists could reach out to them by offering a solution that would save thousands of lives.
“We know through experience that after one, two, or three years of moratorium, it is hard to turn back. Often the next step is complete abolition".