16 October 2015 :

"This is a well deserved election, which Elisabetta Zamparutti deserves for her long commitment, more than ten years, on this front. And it was a candidacy very well supported by the Italian government, both from the Minister of Justice Orlando and the Foreign Minister Gentiloni.
This is a very positive fact that opens other scenarios of work and commitment."
This is what Emma Bonino said to Radio Radicale, commenting the election of Elisabetta Zamparutti, treasurer of Hands Off Cain, as Italian Representative at the Council of Europe anti-torture Committee.
"Her candidacy was not impromptu, Bonino stressed, because it is based on the work done by you personally, by the association 'Hands Off Cain' and by the Radicals in all these years. And in that sense I think that the government had full knowledge of it when it decided to support it. "
Yesterday it was the Secretary to the Prime Minister with responsibility for European Affairs Sandro Gozi to emphasize that the government's decision to support Elisabetta Zamparutti had been right: "Thirty-two votes out of forty-seven in her favour clearly indicate what it was the right choice of the government, and how strong was the candidacy of Zamparutti. I believe the delegations have surely rewarded her civic and political engagement, and her internationally well-known commitment with Hands off Cain”.
“I really want to thank all those who have contributed to my election,” said today Zamparutti to Radio Radicale.
"In particular – she said - the Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni, the Minister of Justice Andrea Orlando, and Undersecretary Sandro Gozi, and the Italian ambassador to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg Mauel Jacoangeli".
"I thank them because they have supported me all the way, thus expressing an act of respect and confidence in me but, seeing it better, in my story, and in all the persons that contributed to write it. It is the story of the Radical Party, a place that constantly gives people the opportunity to grow, making them express the best of themselves, both within and outside the institutions. People who, when they are in the institutions, honor them by changing them, if necessary, but without being changed.
For this very reason, explained Zamparutti, my term will be extremely difficult: it will deal with knowing all those places where there are deprivations of liberty by the state, in order to change the behavior of states. Increasingly often, in the name of national security, governments fail to comply with the international standards provided for by the European Convention with regard to the conditions of detention.
We know - said Zamparutti – how important this knowledge is, in order to say and affirm the principles of the rule of law so that a state can call itself democratic. So it is a matter of operating in order to make sure there is a full compliance with what is provided from the European Convention against Torture.
I want to thank, regarding the radical history and this appointment, for the constant support that was given to me, Marco Pannella, Emma Bonino, Maurizio Turco, Maria Antonietta Farina Coscioni, because they wanted to propose my candidacy. And I thank Rita Bernardini, Marco Perduca Marco Beltrandi, Laura Arconti and Francesca Mambro, who have collected important accessions to the appeal in support of my application, on which the newspaper 'Il Garantista' had made a real campaign, also reinforced by Radio Radicale.
Then I want to thank the members of the Italian House and Senate who have decided to include me in the list of possible candidates sent to the Council of Europe. among those MPs, in particular, Paolo Corsini, Senator of the Democratic Party and member of the Italian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, who was my "main sponsor" when the choice came up to the final trio.
It will be an extremely important and difficult commitment, because we all know how the monitoring of prison conditions is crucial, also in the light of the battle in favour of the Right to Know that is characterizing the activity of the Radical Party in these times.