The 2007 World Day Against the Death Penalty will focus on calling on all UN Member States to vote in support of a resolution calling for a universal moratorium on executions. This resolution will be voted on at the United Nations General Assembly in November this year and will be a pivotal moment for working towards a world without executions. "There is a clear international trend away from using the death penalty as the ultimate punishment. If adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, a global moratorium on executions, having a particularly strong moral force, would be a very significant step towards worldwide abolition", emphasises Martin Macpherson, Director of Amnesty International's International Law and Organizations department.

During October, five press conferences to commemorate the World Day Against the Death Penalty will be held in five of the world’s cities: Rabat (Morocco), San Juan (Porto Rico), Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo), and Lisbon (Portugal), culminating with an event in New York (USA) on 10 October, World Day Against the Death Penalty.

A petition signed by more than five million people across the world will be presented by the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty to the United Nations General Assembly at the end of October. The petition calls for a moratorium on executions and abolition of capital punishment. Another important press conference will be organised again in New York for the handover of this petition.

To date, 133 countries have abolished capital punishment in law or in practice. Recent countries to commit to the abolition of the death penalty include Rwanda, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mexico, the Philippines, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The WCADP is lobbying to get to approximately 100 States to co-sponsor the resolution on a moratorium on executions at the United Nations General Assembly. Although the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty is optimistic that a moratorium on the death penalty will be adopted, this is not a time for complacency.

In some parts of the world the struggle for abolition is more critical than ever. Last year at least 1,591 prisoners were executed. The top offending countries which account for 91% of these executions are China, the United States, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Sudan (source: Amnesty International).

The World Coalition today invites all governments to come together in support of a world without executions to contribute to strengthening human dignity and participate in the progress of human rights the world over. It calls on all Member States of the United Nations General Assembly to adopt a resolution calling for a global moratorium on executions.