On 29 June, ICDP co-organized with Australia a side event at the sidelines of the Human Rights Council consisting of a panel discussion with presentations of the international human rights legal framework providing for the abolition of the death penalty for those children (people below the age of 18 years of age), analysis of its widespread acceptance by a large majority of countries and yet, its continued use, and relevant data from countries that retain the death penalty for those children. Panellists raised awareness of the impact of the death penalty on young people, including those persons whose relatives were under sentence of death or whose executions had been carried out. The event featured an interactive session where the panellists responded to questions including on how to build international support to put an end to the use of the death penalty on children and also on the need to improve urgently the inadequate support system for the young people who were impacted by the death penalty.
The speakers in the panel included:
- Marta Santos Pais · ICDP Commissioner and former Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Violence against Children
- Simon Walker · Chief of Rule of Law and Democracy Section, OHCHR
- Kirsten di Martini · Senior Child Protection Adviser, UNICEF (online)
- Laurel Townhead · Representative (Human Rights and Refugees), Quaker United Nations Office
- Sabrina Butler-Smith · Survivor who was wrongfully sentenced to death as a juvenile offender (video testimony)
The panel was moderated by thePermanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, Ambassador Amanda Gorely.
For more information, please find the event invitation here.
