[Reader-list] Urgent Global Call Against Death Penalty Online Petition

[gowhar fazli]

The UNGA resolution  Calling for the Global Moratorium on Death Penalty is once again  up for voting which may be as soon as 6th of November 2008.

There is an online petition which will be faxed along with thousands of letters of persuasion to the permanent mission of India to UN, PM, MOE and the Home Ministry.

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?antidp

Please sign the petition and circulate as widely as possible.  You could innovate and use your own methods to persuade the government of India to vote in favour of the resolution.

The details are pasted below:

Dear Sir / Madam,

 

In the context of a resolution calling for a global moratorium on death penalty at the (ongoing) 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, Amnesty International India (AI India) is engaged in a campaign, asking the Government of India to take this opportunity and declare a moratorium on death penalty.

 

The resolution is supported by countries from all regions of the world and would be an important milestone towards achieving the General Assembly's stated aim: the world wide abolition of the death penalty.

 

AI India is taking initiative to get a group of eminent people write an open letter to the Prime Minister.

 

The letter is to urge the Indian Government to support the cross-regional initiative to table a resolution on a global moratorium on executions at the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) started on 19th September 2008. Such a resolution would facilitate an informed, objective discussion on death penalty in the country.

 

Last year Indian Government in the Third Committee defended the vote against the moratorium citing that it was largely a question to be determined by sovereign states and that the draft resolution went against India's statutory law.

 
The letter is appended. You can also sign the same at http://www.petitiononline.com/antidp/petition.html. We strongly encourage you to circulate it widely.  

The petition may also be accessed through AII website  www.amnesty.org.in

We thank you for your support in the campaign.