27 June 2005 :

Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi expressed “sincere appreciation of Hands Off Cain for its strong commitment to the consolidation in the international order of the modern humanist values founded on the protection of rights and the individual” in a message on occasion of the launch of HOC’s The Death Penalty Worldwide 2005 Report and the presentation of the Abolitionist of the Year Award.
“I second Abdoulaye Wade when he cites Victor Hugo, who said we don’t need an executioner where prison will suffice, and when he says that the death penalty hits those who are defenceless, without resources or ways out,” said the President of Italy’s Chamber of Deputies Pier Ferdinando Casini, speaking at the event.
Former EU Commissioner Emma Bonino said the UN moratorium on executions should not remain an exclusively European proposal.
“Starting from Senegal and gathering support from other countries, we can hope to succeed at next year’s UN General Assembly,” the Radical MEP said. “It is better to work towards this through a large coalition of countries, that should certainly include Italy, but also countries from all cultures and all continents.” Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini, in a message, reaffirmed Italy’s support for HOC’s campaign.
“We need to keep up our guard in an international context where certain crimes shock people and prompt public opinion in certain countries to believe that extreme punitive measures may be the adequate or even the only response commensurate to the brutality of these crimes,” Fini said.
Towards this aim, HOC Secretary General Sergio D’Elia emphasized the need for an international moratorium on executions approved by the UN General Assembly, and expressed disappointment with the EU’s inability to reach this target. 
“We need to form a coalition of promoter countries that involves states representing all continents, not just Europe and the West,” D’Elia reiterated, stating that conditions in the General Assembly were favourable to the approval of such a resolution. 
Senate Vice-President Cesare Salvi pointed out that the Italian Parliament had always, almost unanimously, expressed itself in favour of all initiatives against the death penalty and towards a worldwide moratorium.