UN Secretariat Building

On November 19th 1998, a delegation of the international league of citizens and parliaments Hands off Cain will deliver to the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, an appeal for a worldwide moratorium on executions.

The appeal, undersigned by over hundred Nobel Prizes, prominent international personalities and congressmen, asks the United Nations General Assembly to lead the International Community away from the intolerable anachronism of the death penalty by establishing in 1999 a universal moratorium on executions with a view to total abolition.

The press conference preceding the meeting with the Secretary-General's office will be attended by:

-Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking and 1998 Peace Nobel Prize Candidate;

-Tim Robbins, Actor; Director of the movie Dead Man Walking

-Sergio D'Elia, Secretary of Hands off Cain

-Prof. William Schabas, Professor of Law at the University of Montreal

-Danilo Quinto, Treasurer of Transnational Radical Party

Interviews will be granted to the journalists attending the event.

Sister Helen Prejean is the first signatory of the appeal undersigned by hundreds of people including many Nobel Prizes (among them: His Holiness the Dalai Lama; Archbishop Desdmond Tutu; Betty Williams; Oscar Arias Sanchez; Nadine Gordimer; Jose Saramago; Rigoberta Menchu') and prominent international personalities like Isabel Allende, Elena Bonner Sacharova, Noam Chomsky and many others.

The delivery of the appeal to Mr. Annan's office will be followed on November 23rd, 1998 by a Conference at the Italian Institute of Culture.

N.B. All journalists without a valid accreditation with the UN must request a daily pass at the Accreditation Unit on the 2nd floor, room 250 of the UN Secretariat Building (use the visitor entrance on 46th and 1st) bringing a letter from the Editor requesting to attend the press conference and a valid ID.

For any further information please contact Hands off Cain office at 212-813-1334 or at 917-776-4168.

APPEAL FOR A MORATORIUM ON EXECUTIONS AT THE UNITED NATIONS

SIGNATURES

First signatory

Sister Helen PREJEAN United States - author of Dead Man Walking and 1998 Peace Nobel

Prize candidate

Nobel Prize winners

Oscar ARIAS SANCHEZ Costa Rica - Peace Nobel Prize

His Holiness the DALAI LAMA Tibet - Peace Nobel Prize

Nadine GORDIMER South Africa - Literature Nobel Prize

Dario FO Italy - Literature Nobel Prize

Rita LEVI MONTALCINI Italy - Medicine Nobel Prize

Mairead Corrigan MAGUIRE Northern Ireland - Peace Nobel Prize

Rigoberta MENCHU' TUM Guatemala - Peace Nobel Prize

Adolfo PEREZ ESQUIVEL Argentina - Peace Nobel Prize

Josè SARAMAGO Portugal - Literature Nobel Prize

Archbishop Desmond TUTU South Africa - Peace Nobel Prize

Betty WILLIAMS Northern Ireland - Peace Nobel Prize

Prominent personalities

Irina ILOVAISKY ALBERTI Francia - Editor, La Pensée Russe

Isabel ALLENDE Chile - writer

Taïeb BACCOUCHE Tunisia - Director, Arab Institute for Human Rights

Andrea BARTOLI United States - Director, International Conflict Resolution Program,

Columbia University

M. Cherif BASSIOUNI United States - President, Association Internationale de Droit Pénal

Hugo BEDAU United States - Austin Fletcher Professor of Philosophy

Alioune Badara BEYE Senegal - President, French-speaking Writers' International

Federation

Tahar BEN JELLOUN Morocco - writer

Mario BENEDETTI Uruguay - writer

Bernardo BERTOLUCCI Italy - film director

Igor BEZRUKOV Russian Federation - member of the Commission for Clemency

George BIZOS South Africa - lawyer

Norberto BOBBIO Italy - philosopher

Hebe de BONAFINI Argentina - President, Madres de Plaza de Mayo

Julian BOND United States - President, National Association for the

Advancement of Colored People

Emma BONINO Italy - European Commissioner

Elena BONNER SACHAROVA Russian Federation

Alex BORAINE South Africa - Vice-President, Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Father Aleksandr BORISOV Russian Federation - member of the Commission for Clemency

Jerome BRUNER United States - pedagogist

Chico BUARQUE Brazil - musician

Noam CHOMSKY United States

Paulo COELHO Brazil - writer

Giovanni CONSO Italy - Chairman, Plenipotentiary Conference for the establishment of an International Criminal Court

Mario CUOMO United States - former Governor of the State of New York

Yolande DIALLO Switzerland - Centre for Human Rights

Ronald DWORKIN United States - Sommer Professor of Law and Philosophy at the New York University, Quain Professor of Jurisprudence at the University College London

Umberto ECO Italy - writer

Mike FARRELL United States - actor, writer, co-Chair - Human Rights Watch (CA)

Eduardo GALEANO Uruguay - writer

Vittorio GASSMAN Italy - actor

Danny GLOVER United States - actor

Felipe GONZALEZ Spain, former Prime Minister

David GROSSMAN Israel - writer

Serhiy HOLOVATY Ukraine - former Minister of Justice

Bianca JAGGER United States

Kirill KOVAL'DZHI Russian Federation - writer, member of the Commission for

Clemency

Dominique LAPIERRE France - writer

Desai MEGHNAD United Kingdom - Director, London School of Economics

Marie Claire MENDES-FRANCE France

Robert MEEROPOL United States - Rosenberg Fund for Children

Anatolij PRISTAVKIN Russian Federation - Chairman, Commission for Clemency

Michael L. RADELET United States - Professor of Sociology

Mons. Gianfranco RAVASI Italy - Prefect of Biblioteca Ambrosiana

Lev RAZGON Russian Federation - writer, member of the Commission for Clemency

Tim ROBBINS United States - director

Sergei ROMAZIN Russian Federation - member of the Commission for Clemency

Edward SAID U.S./Palestine - Professor, NY Columbia University

Susan SARANDON United States - actress

Fernando SAVATER Spain - writer

Luis SEPULVEDA Chile - writer

Sam Reese SHEPPARD United States

Cardinal Jaime SIN Philippines - Archbishop of Manila

Antonio TABUCCHI Italy - writer

Gore VIDAL United States - writer

Sergei VITSIN Russian Federation - member of the Commission for Clemency

Harry WU China - Director, Laogai Research Foundation

Parliamentarians

Magda AELVOET Belgium - co-President, Green Group at the European Parliament

Adelaide AGLIETTA Italy - Green Group, Rapporteur on the death penalty at the

European Parliament

Gaqo APOSTOLI Albania - Minister of Public Work

Valerij BORSHCHEV Russian Federation - Member of the Parliament

Daniel COHN-BENDIT Germany - Member of the European Parliament

Furio COLOMBO Italy - Member of the Parliament

Patrick COX United Kingdom - President, ELDR Group at the European

Parliament

Olivier DUPUIS Belgium - Member of the European Parliament

Pauline GREEN United Kingdom - President, PSE Group at the European

Parliament

Wilfried MARTENS Belgium - President, PPE Group at the European Parliament

Alonso PUERTA Spain - President, GUE/NGL Group at the European Parliament

Arif RAGIM-ZADE Azerbaijan - First vice-Speaker of the Parliament

Claudia ROTH Germany - co-President, Green Group at the European Parliament

Galina STAROVOITOVA Russian Federation - Leader of "Democratic Russia"

PREMI NOBEL, SCRITTORI E PERSONALITA' FIRMANO L'APPELLO DI NESSUNO TOCCHI CAINO AL SEGRETARIO GENERALE DELL'ONU PER LA MORATORIA DELLE ESECUZIONI.

GIOVEDI' 19 A NEW YORK AL PALAZZO DI VETRO LA CONSEGNA DELLE FIRME CON SISTER HELEN E TIM ROBBINS. ALLE ORE 15 DEL 19 LA CONFERENZA STAMPA AL PALAZZO DI VETRO.

Sister Helen PREJEAN e Tim ROBBINS autrice e regista del film Dead man walking saranno in delegazione con Sergio D'Elia e altri esponenti di Nessuno tocchi Caino per consegnare giovedì 19 novembre le prime firme di personalità internazionali all'appello per la moratoria delle esecuzioni rivolto al Segretario Generale dell'Onu. La delegazione sarà ricevuta al Palazzo di Vetro nel pomeriggio del 19 e alle ore 15 nella sala UNCA presso il Segretariato Generale dell'Onu si terrà un incontro con la stampa.

La consegna delle firme viene dopo i due voti favorevoli della Commissione Diritti Umani dell'Onu a Ginevra della risoluzione presentata dall'Italia e apre la campagna che vuole ottenere nel '99 la decisione favorevole alla moratoria da parte dell'Assemblea Generale. Su questa iniziativa il Senato italiano ha impegnato il Governo a cercare anche la collaborazione dei quindici dell'Unione Europea.

Alla consegna delle firme seguirà il 23 la conferenza all'Istituto Italiano di Cultura dove tra gli altri parteciperà il Cardinale Martino (rappresentante della Santa Sede all'Onu).