APPEAL TO THE UNITED NATIONS

FOR THE MORATORIUM ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT and the end of �state secrecy� on the death penalty

We, the undersigned, are firmly convinced that the abolition of the death penalty is not only a necessity of the individual but also a historic and universal necessity. It is the turning point of our times, the meeting point of different civilisations. �Hands Off Cain� is written in the Bible, and this ancient imperative means, to us, that the State cannot take the life of one of its citizens.

With the vote on December 18, 2007 and 2008, and on December 21, 2010, at the United Nations' General Assembly for the Universal Moratorium on capital punishment, a historically significant objective of immense human and civil importance for the entire world was achieved.

With this vote, the United Nations held that the abolition of the death penalty �contributes to the strengthening of human dignity and the progress of human rights. The UN asked countries to impose a �moratorium on capital punishment in view of its complete abolition.�

We now need to prevent this success from fading away. To ensure this, we need to double our efforts to give concrete application to the United Nations request and, through the moratorium, achieve the definitive end of capital punishment.

We ask the UN Secretary General to establish a Special Envoy to monitor the situation, country by country, and demand the abolition of �state secrecy� on the death penalty (which is the main cause executions around the world). The envoy would also have the task of continuing to persuade countries to adopt the United Nations' request: �a moratorium on executions, in view of the definitive abolition of the death penalty.�

In this way, the state stops being Cain, responsible for the perversion of defending life by inflicting death.