The Hague/New York/Paramaribo, 5 March, 2015: Parliamentarians for Global Action welcomes the abolition of the death penalty by the Parliament of Suriname on 3 March, 2015, in the framework of the discussions regarding the adoption of the new Criminal Code.

Although executions had not been carried out in Suriname since 1927, Suriname was still a retentionist country. PGA has been working for a few years to generate political will for the abolition, leading to the creation of a bi-partisan group in the Parliament, which made the abolition possible. Thus, PGA congratulates its National Group in Suriname led by Ms. Ruth Wijdenbosch, Deputy Speaker and Member of the Executive of PGA and Mr. Hugo Jabini, Chair of the PGA Suriname Group for its relentless efforts which led to the historic decision to abolish the death penalty from the Criminal Code of Suriname. Indeed, significant progress has been made in Suriname thanks to the commitment and leadership of Dr. Ruth Wijdenbosch, who had already announced the swift abolition of the death penalty in June 2014 during the Annual Assembly of the World Coalition in Puerto Rico. Already in December 2014, her decisive mobilisation and the one of the National Group, had led Suriname to change its position at the United Nations General Assembly to vote in favour of Resolution on the Moratorium on the use of the death penalty. By leading the commission who prepared this work, PGA Member Mr. Hugo Jabini played a key role in this achievement.

This important development for Suriname is therefore the culmination of the work of Surinamese parliamentarians who had also benefitted from the visits of peers, such as Mr. Greg Mulholland, MP, member of the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Abolition of the Death Penalty, chaired by PGA Member Baronness Vivien Stern, during a visit organized by the International Commission against the Death penalty.

This is the first abolition which PGA contributed to, since the launch of the Campaign for the Abolition of the Death Penalty in 2013, which aims to support, enhance and maximise the impact of the individual initiatives of parliamentarians worldwide on the abolition of the death penalty, as well as to launch and coordinate targeted campaigns in selected countries to ensure concrete advancement of the abolition processes.

PGA receives core support from the Governments of Sweden and Denmark.