The World Day Against the Death Penalty is celebrated each year on 10th October. This 20th world Day will focus on the “Death Penalty: A Road Paved with torture”.

Within this context, a press conference will be organized on Wednesday 12 October 2022, at 10 am, at the headquarters of the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) in Rabat, Morocco.

At this occasion, the Moroccan Coalition Against the Death Penalty, the CNDH, the Moroccan Observatory of Prisons, and Together Against the Death Penalty in conjunction with the Parliamentarians Network, Lawyers Network, Journalists Network and Teachers Network will reiterate the advocacy for the abolition of the death penalty and invite the government to vote in favour of the United Nations Resolution calling for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty in December 2022.

The abolition of the death penalty became an issue carrying a considerable symbolic meaning. It became an issue of great importance in the international human rights system. It is moving forward promptly. However, Morocco would benefit from being committed to the abolition, as proven in the observation of a de facto moratorium on the use of the death penalty for almost 30 years.

Indeed, the abolition of the death penalty is a universal trend. In total, more than two-thirds of States (144 States) abolished the death penalty in law or practice. The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, has now been ratified by 90 States. Within the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), 33 out of 57 States abolished or observed a de facto moratorium on the use of the death penalty.

This World Day is an opportunity to raise awareness among public opinion and political leaders about the cruelty of this iniquitous punishment and its ineffectiveness in combating crime. It is also an occasion to promote the principle of justice without the death penalty, particularly among the young generations.