Report of Victims’ Roundtable of the 2^nd World Congress Against the Death Penalty

An important component of the 2^nd World Congress Against the Death Penalty has been the testimony and participation of family members of victims of criminal homicides, state executions, and extrajudicial killings who speak in opposition to the death penalty. The voices of those surviving family members of murder victims inspire and challenge abolitionists throughout the globe to work to harmonize human rights and the abolition of the death penalty with an embrace of the needs of victims.

 Mindful that the first report to the United Nations General Assembly by the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions called for compensation and other remedies for victims and the families of victims of violations of the right to life, the Victims’ Roundtable of the 2^nd World Congress Against the Death Penalty joins the Special Rapporteur on executions in support the global adoption and implementation of the Declarations of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power.

 Further, mindful that the experiences of family members of murder victims who oppose the death penalty transcend cultures, political systems and national boundaries, the Victims’ Roundtable of the 2^nd World Congress Against the Death Penalty supports the formation of an international network of family members of murder victims, including victims of criminal homicides, state executions, and extrajudicial killings, who oppose capital punishment in all cases, to be a vehicle to help unify and amplify those key voices of victims in the world human rights struggle to abolish the death penalty. 

Renny Cushing

Montreal, Quebec, Canada
October 8, 2004