International Commission Against the Death Penalty

The International Commission against the Death Penalty (ICDP) was founded in Madrid in October 2010, as a result of a Spanish initiative. ICDP is an independent body composed of 25 Commissioners of high standing who have experience in international law and human rights, and are committed to achieving the universal abolition of capital punishment. Their experience, background, geographical representation and personal involvement in abolishing the death penalty enables them to engage with senior officials from different countries.

The work of ICDP is varied: letters and statements^[1] about specific cases are issued urging states not to carry out executions and condemning executions carried out.^[2][3] ICDP organizes and attends meetings and events to promote the abolition of the death penalty.^[1][4]

The Commission is supported and funded by a geographically diverse group of 24 countries committed to the abolition of the death penalt.They are united in opposing capital punishment in all circumstances, and urge for the immediate establishment of a universal moratorium^[5] on executions as a step towards total abolition of the death penalty.

The map below illustrates the worldwide distribution of the ICDP Support Group member states and the location of its Secretariat in Madrid.

The group has been coordinated by the following countries in recent years:

• 2010–2011: Spain
• 2011–2012:  Switzerland
• 2012–2013: Norway
• 2013–2014: Argentina
• Current: Spain

• President and Vice-Presidents
  • Navanethem "Navi" Pillay (South Africa). Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and well-known judge in the ICC and President of the International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda.
  • Ruth Dreifuss (Switzerland). Former President and Minister of Home Affairs of the Swiss Confederation.
  • Ibrahim Najjar (Lebanon). Former Minister of Justice.
• Commissioners:
  • Michèle Duvivier Pierre-Louis (Haiti). Steering Committee Member. Former Prime Minister of Haiti
  • Hanne Sophie Greve (Norway). Steering Committee Member. A judge and Vice President of the High Court for Western Norway and has served as a judge at the European Court of Human Righs
  • Michelle Bachelet (Chile). Former President, Minister of Defense and Minister of Health of Chile, former United nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights, first Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
  • Marc Baron Bossuyt (Belgium). Former member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination; former Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration; former Judge and President of the Belgian Constitutional Court; former Chairperson of the UN Commission and the UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights; author of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty.
  • Helen Clark (New Zealand). Former Administrator of the UN Development Program; former Prime Minister of New Zealand.
  • Marzuki Darusman (Indonesia). Former Chair of the UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar; former UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; former Chair of the UN Secretary General’s Panel of Experts on Sri Lanka; former Attorney General of Indonesia.
  • Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj (Mongolia). Former President; former Prime Minister, Mongolia. Journalist.
  • Sylvie Kayitesi (Rwanda). Former Deputy Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Rwanda; former Chairperson of the Working Group on Death Penalty and Extra-Judicial, Summary or Arbitrary killings in Africa (part-time); former Commissioner for the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights; former President of the National Human Rights Commission in Rwanda; former Minister of Public Service and Labour of Rwanda. Currently Director (legal) of the Economic Community of Central African States.
  • Enda Kenny (Ireland). Former Taoiseach (Ireland’s Prime Minister), Minister for Education and Tourism and Trade, Leader of Fine Gael, Vice President of the European Peoples’ Party.
  • Ioanna Kuçuradi (Turkey). UNESCO Chairperson of the Philosophy and Human Rights Department and Director of the Centre of Research and Implementation of Human Rights in Maltepe University (Turkey).
  • Barbara Lochbihler (Germany). Former member of the UN Committee on enforced Disappearances; former Chair and Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights, the Foreign Affairs Committee’s delegation on UN-EU relations and the Iran delegation at the European Parliament; former Secretary General of Amnesty International Germany and former Secretary General of the Women’s International league for Peace and Freedom (WILPF, Geneva)
  • Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (Philippines). Former President of the Philippines.
  • Dannel Patrick Malloy (United States of America): Former Governor of Connecticut, former prosecutor for the Assistant District Attorney in Brooklyn, former Mayor of Stamford. Current Chancellor of the University of Maine System.
  • Marta Santos Pais (Portugal): Former United Nations Assistant Secretary General and Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence against Children, former UNICEF Director for Policy, Planning, and Evaluation and former UNICEF Director of the Innocenti Research Centre; International human rights lawyer; Head of the Portuguese Holocaust Remembrance Commission Never Forget.
  • Ivan Šimonović (Croatia): Member of the UN Human Rights Committee; former Permanent Representative of Croatia to the United Nations in New York; former Professor at the Faculty of law at the University of Zagreb; Former Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights; former Minister of Justice of Croatia; former Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
  • Horacio Verbitsky (Argentina): Journalist and writer, current member of the Board of Directors of Human Rights Watch/ America and chair of the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS).
• Honorary Members:
  • Giuliano Amato (Italy). Former Judge of the Constitutional Court of Italy; former Prime Minister, former Deputy Prime Minister, former Minister (several Portfolios), former Senator, Italy; former Vice President of the Convention on the Future of Europe that drafted the European Constitution.
  • Louise Arbour (Canada). Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
  • Mohammed Bedjaoui (Algeria). Former Foreign Minister of Algeria, Former Judge and President of the International Court of Justice.
  • Martin O'Malley (United States of America): Former Governor of Maryland, USA; former Mayor of Baltimore.
  • Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero (Spain). Former Prime Minister of Spain.
  • Marta Vilardell Coma (Malta). Former Ambassador at Large for Humanitarian and Social Issues and against the Death Penalty of Spain; former Ambassador of Spain to Malta
• Founding Members:
  • Robert Badinter (1928 – 2024) (France): Former President of the Court of Conciliation and Arbitration in the O.S.C.E.; former President of the Constitutional Council, former Senator, former Minister of Justice, France; former President of the Arbitration Commission of the Peace Conference on Yugoslavia.
  • Asma Jilani Jahangir (1952 – 2018) (Pakistan). President of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and Former UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, arbitrary and summary executions.
  • Rodolfo Mattarollo (1939–2014) (Argentina). Former Consultant of the Secretariat of Human Rights of the Ministry of Justice of Argentina; former Sub-Secretary on Promotion and Protection of Human Rights of the Secretariat and head of the Cabinet of the Secretariat; former Coordinator of the Commission of UNASUR; former Head of the Human Rights Section of the UN Mission in Sierra Leona (UNAMSIL); former Deputy Executive Director and Head of Judicial Affairs and Institution Building of the International Civilian Mission of the OAS and UN in Haiti (MICIVIH).
  • Federico Mayor Zaragoza (Founding President, 1934 – 2024) (Spain): Chairman of the Foundation for a Culture of Peace; former Director General, UNESCO; former Minister of Education and Science, Spain; former Member of European Parliament.
  • Bill Richardson (1947 – 2023) (United States of America): Former Governor of New Mexico, USA; former US Secretary of Energy; former US Ambassador to the United Nation

• Asunta Vivó Cavaller: Co-Executive Director
• Rajiv Narayan: Co-Executive Director

The International Commission against the Death Penalty was established in 2010 with the fundamental mission to promote, complement, and support actions aimed at obtaining the universal abolition of the death penalty. The Commission's mandate is structured around three primary objectives and a series of strategic activities.^[6]

To achieve its mandate, the ICDP carries out several high-level activities:

• Diplomatic Intervention: Collaborating and intervening before high representatives of specific countries, as well as international and regional organizations.
• Public Advocacy: Making appeals and public statements on urgent matters relating to the death penalty.
• Mobilization: Participating in international conferences, seminars, and campaigns to mobilize public opinion and political will.
• Information Dissemination: Presenting research papers and reports at international forums to provide evidence-based analysis.
• Intellectual Works: Promoting artistic and intellectual works that support the abolitionist movement.

ICDP undertakes missions to various countries to meet with government representatives and civil society actors to promote the abolition of the death penalty.

The International Commission against the Death Penalty (ICDP) produces thematic reports and studies that serve as tools for advocacy and provide legal and political analysis for abolitionist movements worldwide.

• Children, Youth and the Death Penalty (2023)
• Supplement of Case-Studies (2020)
• 29 Case-Studies (2018)
• How States Abolish the Death Penalty (2013)
• Roundtable on the Abolition (2012)
• The Death Penalty and "Most Serious Crimes"

• Children, Youth and the Death Penalty (2023): This report highlights how the death penalty affects children and youth, focusing on the protection of children's rights and the legal challenges of age-determination mechanisms.^[7]
• How States Abolish the Death Penalty series: A collection of studies that review the experiences of various nations as they moved towards abolition:
  • Supplement of Case-Studies (2020): Reviews the experiences of 21 states in their abolitionist process.
  • 29 Case-Studies (2018): Analyzes the transition in 26 countries and 3 U.S. states.
  • Initial Study (2013): Assesses lessons from 13 countries that successfully abolished capital punishment.
• The Death Penalty and the "Most Serious Crimes": A country-by-country overview of the death penalty in law and practice in retentionist states, specifically regarding the international legal threshold for executions.
• Report on Roundtable on the Abolition of the Death Penalty (2012): Outcomes of high-level meetings between governments, international organizations, NGOs, and academic experts.

These publications are often translated into multiple languages, including English, Spanish, French, Russian, Arabic, and Korean, to support global abolitionist efforts.

The ICDP holds at least two meetings per year to take decisions on future activities and coordinate international strategies. These meetings often bring together the Commissioners with representatives of the Support Group and other international stakeholders.^[8]

Most of the annual meetings take place in Spain, reinforcing the strong institutional ties between the Commission and its host country.

^[8]

• Official website