From 26 February to 1 March 2019, Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) attended the 7th World Congress against the Death Penalty, organised by its partner organisation Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM, Together Against the Death Penalty) in Brussels (Belgium).
This international event gathered hundreds of activists and representatives from governments, NGOs and parliaments from around the world to discuss issues relevant to the global struggle for abolition. PGA was represented by parliamentarians from countries such as Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central-African Republic, Chad, Jordan, Malaysia, Mali, Tanzania, or Zimbabwe.
Members of Parliament were welcomed to the Congress with a reception in the European Parliament, kindly hosted by Julie Ward, MEP from the United-Kingdom and PGA Member during the evening of 26 February. This event allowed the MPs attending the Congress to deliberate with their colleagues in an informal setting ahead of the academic programme.
During the Opening Ceremony of the Congress, held in the Hemicycle of the European Parliament on 27 February, several governments made strong commitments to abolition. Throughout the Congress’ programme, participants and stakeholders stressed the importance of engaging parliamentarians as lawmakers and opinion leaders to push for abolition.
On 1 March, PGA and ECPM co-organised a closed session for parliamentarians to freely discuss their experiences and challenges with abolition. During this session, the twenty parliamentarians attending adopted a declaration summarising their commitments to the abolition of the death penalty. This final declaration of parliamentarians was read during the Closing Ceremony in the Bozar Museum by Hon. Dorcas Sibanda, Member of the National Assembly of Zimbabwe, PGA Member, and Hon. Théophile Yombombé Madjitoloum, 3rd Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Chad, PGA Member. A larger final declaration on behalf of all participants to the 7th World Congress against the Death Penalty was also adopted by acclamation during the Ceremony.
A special resolution in support of Malaysia’s decision to abolish the death penalty was also read during the closing ceremony. This echoes the efforts in favour of abolition deployed by Malaysian PGA Members, such as Hon. Kasthuri Patto, Member of the House of Representatives of Malaysia, Secretary of the PGA’s National Group, who attended the Congress and has been working tirelessly with the PGA Malaysian National group to mobilize her colleagues to further the abolitionist goal in Malaysia, as demonstrated during the regional parliamentary seminar entitled “Standing Against Death Penalty in Asia” held in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) in October 2018.
Finally, on the margins of this Congress, the World Coalition against the Death Penalty organised its General Assembly. At this occasion, PGA was elected to sit on the Steering Committee of the Coalition for the next two years, thus renewing PGA’s commitment to its Campaign for the Abolition of the Death Penalty and underlining the importance of mobilising parliamentarians to move the abolitionist cause forward worldwide.