On the World and European Day against the Death Penalty celebrated today, Italy reiterates its strongest condemnation of the death penalty in all circumstances. Italy believes that the Death Penalty has no deterrent value concerning crime while making any judicial error dramatically irreversible.
In occasion of the ministerial week of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Italy, together with The Gambia, organised a high-level event on the death penalty and the gender dimension (24 September 2020). The event allowed a fascinating in-depth study on the impact of the death penalty on women, in particular on those crimes for which women are most condemned and stressed the importance of the right to legal representation. The session opened with a video message by the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, and a speech by Minister Di Maio. The event was attended, among others, by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Bachelet.
The fight against the death penalty is one of the priorities of Italian foreign policy. It is one of the priority themes of our current mandate in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). We support and promote the international campaign against the death penalty with the utmost determination. We encourage the campaign both bilaterally, raising the issue regularly with partner countries, and multilaterally, promoting the campaign in all relevant fora.
The 8th Resolution for a universal moratorium on executions, which is about to be presented to the General Assembly, represents a pivotal moment in the international campaign against the death penalty. We work in close synergy with civil society organisations to coordinate awareness-raising activities in various geographical areas. We aim at consolidating and possibly surpass the record 2018 result of 121 votes in favour of the Resolution.
