Overcoming the isolation of the people sentenced to death and their relatives

World Day

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 10 September 2018

 In order to avoid that the people on death row sink into oblivion, we encourage you to contact those who suffer from the living conditions on death row: the person sentenced to death, the families and relatives, as well as the lawyers. There are many ways in which the civil society organisations can support the people sentenced to death and its relatives: by sending support messages, establishing a pen pal relationship with a person sentenced to death, organising a prison visit to report on the conditions of detention and meeting with the prisoners to hear bout their needs…

You can also organize a prison visit, following the World Coalition’s guidelines

We can help you contact people on death row, families and relatives and member organisations that have expertise in that field, having access to prisons, but also organisations that coordinate correspondence with people on death row around the world.

If you wish to send support messages to a prisoner on death row, his/her family, relatives, or lawyer:

►    Contact the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty to know about the organisations that work directly with the people sentenced to death and/or their families
►    Get in touch with the organisation, who will guide you through the process
►    Send your support messages
►    Invite others to do so!

If you wish to go further and establish a pen pal relationship with a person on death row:

►    First of all, you should be willing to commit to the pen pal relationship you are about to engage in: this means you need to write regularly, invest the time it requires, respond to the letters and if possible, not putting an end to the pen pal relationship.
►    Once you have decided that you want to engage in this activity, get in contact with the World Coalition  to know about the organisations that work directly with the people sentenced to death and that work specifically arranging pen pal relationships.
►    Contact the organisation and enquire about requirements, the do’s and the don’ts
►    Write your letter

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