The Council of Europe, in collaboration with its civil society partners “Ensemble contre la peine de mort” (ECPM) and the German Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, organised the workshop “Death is not Justice – youth advocacy and awareness-raising for the abolition of the death penalty” on 19, 20 and 21 June 2024. The workshop took place at the European Youth Centre in Strasbourg. It was organised as part of the cooperation project “Death is not justice: abolition of the death penalty in Europe and beyond”, funded by a voluntary contribution from France and the Franco-German Youth Office (OFAJ/DFJW). Portugal, Switzerland and the Lithuanian Presidency of the Committee of Ministers also supported the event.
This workshop, the 1st of which was held in June 2023 (Workshop “Death is not justice – advocacy for the abolition of the death penalty” held in Strasbourg – Abolition of the death penalty (coe.int)) is in line with the implementation of the Reykjavik Summit Declaration : the Heads of State and Government indicated that the Council of Europe must continue its fight for the abolition of the death penalty, a direction that was confirmed by the meeting of Foreign Ministers of 16-17 May 2024 who called “to strengthen initiatives to counter pro-death penalty narratives in Europe and contribute to global abolition."
The workshop brought together 50 young volunteers, students and active members of civil society aged between 18 and 30, coming from 30 Council of Europe Member States. They were selected from some 300 applicants. A number of them had already taken part in the previous edition and presented various actions carried out as part of their abolitionist fight. A few others attended the workshop for Belarusian youth held in Vilnius last May (Advancing the Abolition of the Death Penalty Among the Belarusian population : Workshop in Vilnius – Abolition of the death penalty (coe.int)).
Beyond training the young participants to advocate for the abolition of death penalty, the goal of this project is to create a network of young ambassadors to continue the fight for the abolition across Europe and the world. The young ambassadors thus worked on the forthcoming European and World Day against the Death Penalty on 10 October, with sessions dedicated to the link between security and the death penalty, and the notion of deterrence. They were also able to revert to the theme of the last two European and World days, with a sequence focused on torture, culminating in the testimony of Mrs. Antoinette Chahine, a former death row prisoner from Lebanon. In addition, the participants reflected on the actions they could take in the future.
The event was opened by Mr Miroslav Papa, Director of Political Affairs and External Relations of the Council of Europe, Mr Ambassador Pap Ndiaye, Permanent Representative of France to the Council of Europe, and Mr Nicolas Perron, Director of Programme of ECPM. Mr Ambassador Gilberto Jerónimo, Permanent Representative of Portugal to the Council of Europe, joined for the closing session.
Programme of the second edition of the workshop, “Death is not justice – advocacy for the abolition of the death penalty”
Coordinator for the Abolition of the death penalty