20 YEARS OF FIGHTING THE DEATH PENALTY
Founded in 2000, ECPM (Together Against the Death Penalty) is the leading global association fighting for universal abolition. With a presence in a dozen countries, ECPM conducts advocacy with national and international bodies, in particular by supporting local actors and by organising, every three years, the biggest abolitionist event in the world: the World Congress against the Death Penalty. ECPM also set up the World Coalition against the Death Penalty and was the first NGO to advocate against capital punishment at the UN.
OUR ARGUMENTS
The abolition of the death penalty is one of the human rights that has made the most significant advances over the last 40 years. On 10 October 1981, France became the 35th abolitionist State in the world. That year, two thirds of countries worldwide implemented the death penalty on a regular basis. Today, 80% of UN Member States no longer execute prisoners and almost 60% are abolitionist.
But the fight goes on. More than 20,000 people are currently on death row, facing execution, in 52 countries. In 2019, 81% of confirmed executions worldwide took place in three countries: Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. China alone executes more people than all other countries combined, although official figures are classified as state secrets.
Because opposing the death penalty means preserving our humanity and dignity in the face of barbarity, because denying a State the right to kill those in its care means preserving the basis of our freedom, ECPM presents 10 reasons to abolish the death penalty worldwide.