Welcome to
Murder Victims' Families For Human Rights

Why a human rights framework for
death penalty abolition work?

Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that every person has the right to life.  Article 5 states that no person shall be subjected to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.  The death penalty violates both these human rights.

By definition, human rights cannot be either granted or denied by a government.  By framing the death penalty as a human rights issue rather than a criminal justice issue, we are saying that whatever form of government a nation has, whatever the assumptions or policies of its criminal justice system, it should not be allowed to take the lives of its own citizens.  Thinking of the death penalty this way takes it out of the realm of specific criminal justice systems and places it in the realm of international human rights standards, which transcend national borders and are based in our common humanity across the globe. 

MVFHR believes that the anti-death penalty movement in the United States can draw strength from this international human rights framework and from solidarity and partnership with those who are working against the death penalty in other countries ­­­– and not just in countries that no longer have the death penalty, but also in countries that still retain it.  In viewing the issue this way, we are building upon the work of human rights, anti-death penalty, and victims’ activists in this country and around the world.

What is Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights?

Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights is an international, non-governmental organization of family members of victims of criminal murder, terrorist killings, state executions, extrajudicial assassinations, and “disappearances” working to oppose the death penalty from a human rights perspective. 

Membership is open to all victims’ family members who oppose the death penalty in all cases.  “Friend of MVFHR” membership is open to all those interested in joining our efforts.  Membership forms are available here.

Based in the United States, MVFHR’s work takes place both in this country and abroad.  We focus on domestic work not simply because our headquarters are here in the U.S. but because in the international death penalty debate, it is considered significant that the United States still carries out executions.  Abolishing the death penalty in this country would send an enormous message worldwide.

Special Features
 

MVFHR's latest publication, Double Tragedies is now available here in PDF format 
For the first time, families of murder victims have joined with families of persons with mental illness who have been executed to speak out against the death penalty.  Double Tragedies is a joint project with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

Come visit MVFHR's new blog, For Victims, Against the Death Penalty! 
You'll find the latest news about MVFHR’s work, reflections from 
Executive Director Renny Cushing, and stories and reports from 
families of murder victims and families of the executed throughout 
the United States and around the world.

Visit our News and Events page to see what MVFHR members have been up to and major developments in the issue.

Victims' Stories - MVFHR's Gallery of Victims presenting photos and statements from survivors and putting real faces on victim opposition to the death penalty

Download the latest edition of the MVFHR newsletter, Article 3, in PDF format.