NHRIs join global discussion on death penalty

Senior representatives from 13 APF member institutions will attend the 6th World Congress against the Death Penalty, to be held in Oslo, Norway, from 21-23 June 2016.

The World Congress, held every three years, will bring together more than 1,300 representatives from governments, parliaments, civil society, academia, law and the media for a series of wide-ranging discussions.

The APF will be represented by a number of national human rights institutions (NHRIs) in the Asia Pacific region whose States retain the death penalty, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Palestine, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Several other APF members who have recently worked for abolition or reconsideration of sentences in capital punishment cases will also attend.

The 6th World Congress will feature a plenary session on the importance of NHRIs to the abolitionist cause, with speakers from India, Malawi, Morocco and Nigera.

During the Congress, the APF will also convene a side meeting with international experts to consider international and normative legal developments in the abolition of the death penalty.

These conversations will inform this year's review and update of the APF's regional study on the death penalty, undertaken by the Advisory Council of Jurists in 1999.

Among other things, the review will consider which States currently retain the death penalty, for what crimes, and where exemptions or a moratorium exist, how have these changes been justified and implemented.

Once completed, the review will support APF members to advocate on the issue with their national governments, as well as provide opportunities for collaboration between APF members at a bilateral, regional and international level.

Date: 19 May 2016