Abolition of the death penalty

In the framework of the last World Forum for Democracy, which was held from 6 to 8 November 2023, a Forum Talk was dedicated to the issue of the death penalty.

This Forum talk took place in Strasbourg on 7 November and was entitled “Death penalty as a tool of terror”. The number of countries that have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice is constantly growing, but executions have unfortunately increased recently throughout the world. This inhuman and degrading punishment is still upheld and used in various countries. Some states use it as a tool of terror or as a means of political repression.

This event started with a screening of the film “7 Winters in Teheran” which shows the fight of the family and supporters of Reyhaneh Jabbari, who was 19 in 2007 when she was sentenced to death in Iran for the murder of a man who was trying to rape her.

Then, participants had the opportunity to exchange with Reyhaneh’s mother, Shole, and with the Director of the documentary film, Steffi Niederzoll. Themes like the fight of Shole, the use of the death penalty and the particular situation of women in Iran. Global trends regarding the abolition of the death penalty and the impact of the death penalty on societies were also tackled with Aurélie Plaçais, Director of the World Coalition against the Death Penalty. This exchange was moderated by the Council of Europe Coordinator for the Abolition of the Death penalty.

Interviews of our panelists were conducted on the day of this event and are available here.