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When the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in 1948 only eight states had abolished the death penalty but in recent years the situation has changed dramatically. According to the United Nations (UN) some 150 states have either abolished the death penalty or do not practice it. It was against this background that the International Commission against the Death Penalty (ICDP) was created, bringing to the abolitionist cause the voice of politically influential individuals with international standing.

ICDP was launched in Madrid in October 2010 as an independent body composed of 15 personalities of international prestige and experience in human rights, and supported by a diverse group of 16 countries from all world regions. ICDP opposes capital punishment in all situations, and urges the immediate establishment of a universal moratorium on executions as a step towards total abolition of the death penalty.

History
ICDP was established on 7 October 2010 in Madrid. The Spanish Government established ICDP to reinforce the fight against the death penalty in all regions of the world. ICDP is supported by 16 countries representing all the regions of the world.

During the first year, ICDP was hosted by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. A year later ICDP moved to Geneva, a city that hosts numerous international organizations of relevance to ICDP including the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, permanent missions of UN Member States and key non governmental organizations.

Mandate
ICDP opposes the death penalty in all situations. Believing that it violates the right to life enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ICDP urges the immediate establishment of a universal moratorium on executions in all world regions with a view to total abolition. Its mandate is to promote, complement and support global abolition of the death penalty. Its main objectives are to:
 * Promote abolition in law in countries which apply a moratorium on use of the death penalty.
 * Promote the establishment of a moratorium on the death penalty in all world regions, as a step towards total abolition.
 * Intervene in specific cases – in particular where imposition of capital punishment is prohibited under international law, such as in the case of juvenile offenders, pregnant women, the mentally ill, or where international death penalty safeguards are violated.

The Commission
The Commission is composed of 15 high-profile Commissioners and led by its President Federico Mayor. These eminent individuals include former presidents, prime ministers, government ministers, senior UN officials, a former US State governor, a former judge and president of the International Court of Justice, a senior judge and a leading academic. The Commissioners represent all world regions – demonstrating that abolition of the death penalty is a global concern and not the cause of a particular region. They do not represent their country and act with independence in their decision-making. The Commission usually holds two meetings a year.

ICDP’s added value lies in the importance of its members. Each Commissioner has expertise in human rights and is committed to the global abolition of capital punishment. Their experience and knowledge enables them to address politically sensitive issues and engage with senior officials from countries where the death penalty is still used. Their knowledge, influence and broad geographical representation provides ICDP with a high profile in the international arena. The Commission usually meets twice a year to agree receive reports and agree future strategies and activities.

The personal involvement of ICDP members with the abolition of the death penalty means that the Commission is well placed to engage with senior officials from countries that have yet to abolish capital punishment. For example, Robert Badinter was Minister of Justice in France and was a key figure in France’s decision to abolish the death penalty in 1981. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was President of the Philippines and in June 2006 she signed into law “Republic Act 9346” which prohibits the imposition of the death penalty in the Philippines. Bill Richardson was Governor of New Mexico (2003–2011) and signed into law an abolition bill on 18 March 2009. Former Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar submitted a draft law to repeal the death penalty in Lebanon. There has been a de facto moratorium on executions in Lebanon since July 2008 following his refusal to sign execution warrants.

The Commissioners are:
 * Federico Mayor (Spain) President of ICDP. Former Director General of the UNESCO and Former Minister of Education and Science of Spain.
 * Giuliano Amato (Italy). Former Prime Minister of Italy.
 * Louise Arbour (Canada). Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
 * Robert Badinter (France). Former Minister of Justice of France.
 * Mohammed Bedjaoui (Algeria). Former Foreign Minister of Algeria, Former Judge at the International Court of Justice.
 * Ruth Dreifuss (Switzerland). Former President and Minister of Home Affairs of the Swiss Confederation.
 * Michèle Duvivier Pierre-Louis (Haiti). Former Prime Minister of Haiti.
 * Hanne Sophie Greve (Norway). A judge and Vice President of the High Court in Bergen and has served as a judge at the European Court of Human Rights.
 * Asma Jilani Jahangir (Pakistan). President of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
 * Ioanna Kuçuradi (Turkey). UNESCO Chairperson of the Philosophy and Human Rights Department and Director of the Centre of Research and Implementation of Human Rights in Maltepe University (Turkey).
 * Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (Philippines). Former President of the Philippines.
 * Rodolfo Mattarollo (Argentina). Former Deputy Secretary for Human Rights in Argentina.
 * Ibrahim Najjar (Lebanon). Former Minister of Justice.
 * Bill Richardson (USA). Former Governor of New Mexico.
 * Honorary member Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero (Spain), Former Prime Minister of Spain

The Support Group
The work of the ICDP is supported and funded by a diverse group of 16 states from all regions of the world that are committed to abolition of the death penalty. This Support Group is composed of Algeria, Argentina, Dominican Republic, France, Italy, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Mongolia, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Togo and Turkey. The Support Group carries out its activities under the coordination of a rotating yearly presidency starting the month of October of each year. Norway holds the current Presidency until Argentine assumes the role in October 2013. The past presidencies were hold by Spain and Switzerland.

The Secretariat
The Secretariat is responsible for organizing the work of the Commission, it further coordinates the activities of the Support Group; receives information relative to the question of the death penalty; and prepares the necessary reports.

Program of work
ICDP implements its mandate in a number of ways including:
 * Interventions with high representatives and personalities in specific countries.
 * Visits to countries to engage with high-ranking officials.
 * Appeals and statements – in particular where individuals are at imminent risk of execution.
 * Participation in conferences, seminars and in campaigns to mobilize public opinion for abolition of the death penalty.
 * Publications and dissemination of information to promote abolition of the death penalty.
 * Promoting intellectual and artistic works that support abolition of the death penalty.

Since its creation, ICDP has undertaken a number of activities to support the abolition of capital punishment including country missions, organizing meetings to further abolition and statements interventions addressed to state authorities. Working relationships have been established with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Council of Europe, European Union, the United Nations (UN), the UK All Parliamentary Group on the Abolition of the Death Penalty as well as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and academics working on the abolition of the death penalty.

In May 2011 ICDP Commissioner Ruth Dreifuss undertook a mission to Tajikistan. She met with senior government officials and key actors from civil society and participated in the International Conference “Central Asia without Death Penalty”. The mission contributed to a positive debate on capital punishment and received broad media coverage, raising public awareness about the issues. ICDP plans to return to Tajikistan in 2013.

ICDP visited the US state of California in April 2012 to support those campaigning for Proposition 34, an initiative that would have replaced capital punishment with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. During the mission, ICDP’s delegation met senior state officials and lawyers involved in capital cases, spoke in two public events, and visited San Quentin State Prison where they discussed criminal justice issues with staff members and prisoners. On 6 November 2012, Californian voters decided by a narrow margin to vote against Proposition 34 and retained the death penalty. However, the margin was much lower than the last referendum.

In June 2012 ICDP Commissioner Bill Richardson, former Governor of New Mexico, USA, led a delegation to Japan. During the mission he met with diplomats, the Delegation of the European Union, the Japanese Federation of Bar Associations, the Center for Prisoners Rights and parliamentarians. The meetings were an opportunity to learn more about Japan’s system of criminal justice and to discuss the death penalty and the global trend towards its abolition. Governor Richardson also spoke at the symposium on “What Makes Criminal Justice Sustainable?” organized by the Norwegian Embassy and Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo which was attended by former Ministers of Justice from Japan and Norway. At the same time Governor Richardson was in Japan ICDP Commissioners Robert Badinter and Ruth Dreifuss were in Tunisia to meet with government representatives, the President of the Republic and the President of the Constituent Assembly to discuss legal abolition of capital punishment and Tunisia’s support for the 2012 UN General Assembly resolution calling for a moratorium on executions. For the first time Tunisia did vote in favour of the 2012 UN resolution. Later in July 2012 ICDP President Federico Mayor was at UN Headquarters in New York to participate in a panel on “Moving away from the death penalty. Lessons from national experience”. The meeting, organized by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, was an opportunity to inform Member States about the death penalty before the UN General Assembly’s debate on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty that year. One of the outcomes of that meeting was ICDP’s decision to publish a report ‘How States abolish the death penalty’ which was launched in Oslo in April 2013. To coincide with the 10 October 2012 World Day against the death penalty ICDP organized a Roundtable in Madrid to review developments on capital punishment and identify legal and political challenges and opportunities for the coming five years. Discussion covered specific countries, regional and thematic issues as well as the complementary roles of intergovernmental organizations, NGOs and governments to further the cause of abolition. The meeting was attended by over 40 individuals including academics, lawyers, representatives from intergovernmental organizations, NGOs and governments. The roundtable was followed up the next day by a public debate organized by ICDP with members of the Commission, academics and representatives of civil society. In February 2013 ICDP held a High-level panel meeting at Palais des Nations, Geneva, to coincide with the 22th session of the UN Human Rights Council. The event focused on why and how to abolish death penalty. Ms Ruth Dreifuss, ICDP Commissioner and former President of the Swiss Confederation, chaired the meeting which was opened with a message from the UN Secretary-General Mr Ban Ki-moon in which he recalled the UN’s engagement in advocating for the abolition of the death penalty. This was followed by interventions from ICDP’s President Mr Federico Mayor and ICDP Commissioner Mr Mohammed Bedjaoui; Ms Gry Larsen, Norway’s Secretary of State from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Mr Jesús Gracia, Spain’s Secretary of State for International Cooperation and Iberoamerica; Ms Kang Kyung-wha, the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights and Mr Stavros Lambrinidis, the European Union Special Representative on Human Rights.

Report on the death penalty and ‘most serious crimes’. The report considers the evolution of the term ‘most serious crimes’ in international law and annexed to the report is a list of retentionist states and crimes for which the death penalty is imposed.

Report ‘How States abolish the death penalty’. The report reviews the processes towards abolition of capital punishment through studying the experience of 13 States and is intended as a practical tool to assist states moving towards abolition of the death penalty. Drawing on these lessons and experiences the publication provides guidance to states on how to abolish the death penalty in law.