DEATH PENALTY: MISSION OF THE NON VIOLENT RADICAL PARTY IN CHAD

November 19, 2012: Today begins a four-day mission of Hands Off Cain and the Radical Party in Chad to support the abolitionist process internally and to gain the support of the African country to the UN resolution for the universal moratorium on executions.
The mission in Chad, which takes place thanks to a grant from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is composed of the President of Hands Off Cain Marco Panella, by the Treasurer Elisabetta Zamparutti, the Secretary General of the Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational and Transparty, Demba Traore, and the General Counsel of the Radical Party Matteo Angioli.
In Chad, the death penalty is provided for a series of crimes, from murder to aggravated terrorism, betrayal espionage, although the last execution took place in November 2003, when nine men were shot in four days, even though they had not exhausted their appeals.
The prison situation is particularly serious. The delegation of the Radicals wants to visit jails: overcrowding, poor health care and inadequate food services, sanitation and medical problems are severe; devices for ventilation, heating, lighting, and access to drinking water are inadequate or non-existent.
In 2009, during the Universal Periodic Review by the Human Rights Council of the United Nations, Chad has accepted the recommendation to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on the abolition of the death penalty, but the ratification has not yet occurred.
In 2008 and 2010, Chad was absent during the vote on UN Resolution pro moratorium. In this regard, the objectives of the mission of Hands Off Cain and the Radical Party, other than the requirement to accelerate the internal process towards abolition, it is to get a vote in favor of Chad to the new resolution being discussed in the current session UN General Assembly. (Sources: HOC, 19/11/2012)