produced by the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty
in collaboration with the Yes Now agency.
Building the capacity of those working on the ground
As part of the joint project ‘The Pathways to Abolition’, implemented with financial support from the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the European Union and the Fondation de France, ECPM and its partners have carried out numerous activities aimed at advancing the abolition of the death penalty. In addition to advocacy work with national institutions, capacity-building for those working on the ground is a key focus of their work. Indeed, legal frameworks and judicial practices vary from one state to another, particularly with regard to the application of the death penalty. It is therefore essential to adapt approaches to the specific characteristics of each context, in order to better equip those working within the criminal justice system and strengthen their capacity for action.
Workshop for lawyer-to-lawyer technical exchanges – Droits & Paix Association, Cameroon
Droits & Paix et ECPM ont organisé un atelier avec les membres du barreau du Cameroun pour outiller les avocat•es camerounais•es représentant•es des client•es poursuivi•es pour des faits passibles de la peine de mort. L’atelier a notamment mis en avant la question de l’irresponsabilité en cas de troubles mentaux.
Droits & Paix and ECPM organised a workshop with members of the Cameroon Bar Association to equip Cameroonian lawyers representing clients facing prosecution for offenses subject to the death penalty. The workshop highlighted, in particular, the issue of criminal responsibility in cases of mental disorder.
Participants to the workshop – © Droits et Paix
Participants to the workshop – © Droits et Paix
Training workshop for lawyers – Tunisian Coalition Against the Death Penalty (CTCPM), Tunisia
The Tunisian Coalition Against the Death Penalty and ECPM organised a further training session for Tunisian lawyers as part of their capacity-building activities for stakeholders in the criminal justice system. The sessions focused in particular on legislation and the situation regarding the death penalty in Tunisia. One of these, led by ECPM, centred on the death penalty and international law.
The CTCPM also issued a press release in French and Arabic to mark World Day Against the Death Penalty:
Participants to the workshop – © Tunisian Coalition Against the Death Penalty
Participants to the workshop – © Tunisian Coalition Against the Death Penalty
Training workshop for members of the National Human Rights Commission – Mauritanian Human Rights Association (AMDH), Mauritania
The Mauritanian Human Rights Association (AMDH), an organisation dedicated to defending and promoting human rights in Mauritania, and ECPM organised, for the first time, a training workshop for members of the CNDH in Mauritania.
The presentations highlighted the AMDH’s expertise, the documentary resources produced by the AMDH and ECPM (notably the Brochure on the death penalty in law and in practice in Mauritania) and the Practical Guide to monitoring the conditions of detention of prisoners sentenced to death, intended for National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) and National Mechanisms for the Prevention of Torture (NPMs).
Bringing together and raising awareness of the campaign to abolish the death penalty: engaging the press and organising activist campaigns
Press conference – National Human Rights Council (CNDH), Moroccan Coalition Against the Death Penalty (CMCPM) and Moroccan Prison Observatory (OMP), Morocco
Every year, to mark the World Day Against the Death Penalty, ECPM, the Moroccan Coalition Against the Death Penalty (CMCPM), the National Human Rights Council, as well as the Moroccan Prison Observatory (OMP) and all the Moroccan abolitionist networks (which bring together parliamentarians, lawyers, teachers, entrepreneurs and journalists) are organising a conference in Rabat for an audience comprising representatives of national authorities, diplomatic missions, civil society and the press.
This meeting provides an opportunity to highlight Morocco’s positive progress towards permanent abolition, as well as to emphasise the dynamism of the Moroccan abolitionist movement. Raphaël Chenuil-Hazan, Director General of ECPM, who was present at the event and among the speakers, took the opportunity to outline the challenges and prospects facing the Kingdom, particularly in light of its desire to host the 10th World Congress Against the Death Penalty in three years’ time. He emphasised, in particular, the symbolic and political significance of such a prospect:
Imagine what a World Congress in Marrakesh would mean: thousands of political leaders, legal experts, parliamentarians and activists from all over the world, gathered in Morocco to advance a common cause. […] It would be a recognition of the Kingdom’s role, but also a tremendous opportunity to give new impetus to the national, regional and international debate.
Opening of the conference by Amina Bouayach, Chair of the Moroccan National Human Rights Council – © National Human Rights Council
Speech by Raphaël Chenuil-Hazan, Director General of ECPM – © National Human Rights Council
Conference – Culture for Peace and Justice (CPJ), Democratic Republic of the Congo
In Maniema province, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Culture for Peace and Justice and ECPM jointly organised a conference bringing together nearly a hundred people to discuss the issue of the death penalty in the country. The discussions provided an opportunity to take inventory of how the death penalty is applied and to highlight the initiatives undertaken to advance its abolition.
This meeting also provided an opportunity to celebrate the awarding of the Robert Badinter Grand Prize to Liévin Ngondji, which was presented to him last June in Paris during the 9th World Congress Against the Death Penalty. This award recognises years of commitment and campaigning against the death penalty, as well as Mr Liévin Ngondji’s decisive contribution to the abolitionist movement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Conference participants – © Ramo Djunga Lungangula
Liévin Ngondji, alongside conference participants – © Ramo Djunga Lungangula
Conference – Lebanese Association for Civil Rights (LACR), Lebanon
In Lebanon this year, World Day took on particular significance in the wake of a historic breakthrough: the abolition of the death penalty. ECPM and the Lebanese Association for Civil Rights (LACR) co-organised a conference for civil society organisations, a few weeks after the Lebanese Parliament voted in favour of abolishing the death penalty.
The result of a long-term effort led by the LACR and the Lebanese civil society abolitionist network, supported by ECPM, this decision marks a historic step forward for Lebanon. The conference provided an opportunity to review the strategies that had paved the way for this major breakthrough, to discuss the alternative sentences adopted to replace the death penalty, and to address the strategies needed to safeguard this legislative progress and prevent any risk of backsliding. As part of the opening addresses, Raphaël Chenuil-Hazan, Director of ECPM, spoke via videoconference.
Launch of the annual report on the death penalty in Indonesia – KontraS, Indonesia
On 9 October 2026, the eve of the World Day Against the Death Penalty, KontraS, ECPM’s partner in Indonesia, published its annual report on the situation regarding the death penalty in Indonesia. Based on data collected between October 2025 and September 2026, the report provides an overview of the death penalty and reviews the main legislative developments, in particular the entry into force of the new Criminal Code, which makes the death penalty an alternative sentence rather than a principal one.
In the days that followed, ECPM and KontraS also highlighted the findings of their fact-finding mission report entitled ‘More numerous, yet invisible: the situation of those sentenced to death in Indonesia’. The year 2026 marks ten years without a single execution in the country, which is now under a moratorium on executions. This provides an opportunity for ECPM and KontraS to review the current state of the application of the death penalty and to address the challenges that remain.
Carry on the fight online
For the past four years, ECPM has co-organised an annual workshop, in partnership with the Council of Europe and the German Coalition Against the Death Penalty, for around fifty young Europeans. The aim is to equip them with the knowledge and tools they need to carry out, entirely independently, advocacy work in favour of the abolition of the death penalty.
Over the years, these workshops have fostered the emergence of a genuine network of committed young people who continue their campaigning in their own countries throughout the year.
Beyond 10 October: An international mobilisation for the abolition of the death penalty
