HOC Secretary General Sergio D’Elia

ITALY. BELATED D’ALEMA CLARIFICATION SERIOUS, HANDS OFF CAIN

October 26, 2006: the foreign Commission of the Chamber of Deputies held an informal meeting between its Presidency and Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema. D’Alema stated during the meeting that the government had made a mistake in accepting the motion approved by the Chamber of Deputies which called for the presentation, in “consultation” with the EU, of a resolution for a universal moratorium on capital executions at the ongoing UN General Assembly.
The Minister said that his foreign policy guidelines did not consent him to act separately from the EU. D’Alema informed the Commission that Britain was unwilling even to sign a declaration against the death penalty as had been the general consensus formed among other EU member states.      
Hands Off Cain Secretary Gen. Sergio D’Elia and Treasurer Elisabetta Zamparutti, declared: “It is serious that this clarification should only come three months after the approval of the motion by the Chamber of Deputies. It is now not possible to have the resolution approved at the ongoing UN General Assembly in New York and the fact that Italy has bound itself to unanimous consensus within the EU risks making it impossible for our country to bring to a future conclusion the battle commenced by Hands Off Cain and the Radical Party more than a decade ago. We need to go beyond European ties and limits and create a world coalition of states from all continents for the presentation of the resolution at the next General Assembly.” (Sources: HOC, 26/10/2006)