To the attention of Mrs. Daria HALONEN

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland

Strasburg, May 12, 1998

Dear Minister,

I first would like to thank you for the confirmation of Finland's commitment to the worldwide abolition of the death penalty during the vote of the Resolution of the UN Human Rights Commission last 3 of April in Geneva.

This second resolution of the Human Rights Commission represents a particularly relevant success because, as you already know, this years resolution explicitly refers to the establishment of a worldwide moratorium.

If, on the one hand EU Member States have renewed their leadership role in this initiative, on the other hand the novelty is reflected by the geographical and nomerical enlargement of the group of sponsoring countries.

Both my party and my abolitionist friends members of "Hands Off Cain" are convinced that the conditions now exist for UN General Assembly to pronounce itsself in favour of the establishment of a worldwide moratorium.

With this aim in mind we are now mobilizing ourselves to establish a core of countries willing to promote, next August, the inscription of the moratorium in the agenda of the General Assembly.

Besides Italy, whose concern for this question is longstanding, other countries, like Ireland, are now fully engaged in favour of this goal.

Therefore, I allow myself to ask you if you consider that Finland could take part in this group of countries promoting a resolution at the UN General Assembly this year.

I thank you very much once again and I keep myself at your disposal for any further information.

Best regards,

Olivier Dupuis

Secretary of the Radical Party