The Arab Coalitions against Death Penalty expresses regret as foreign organizations continue to avoid Coalition efforts

The Egyptian press has recently published a news report that a regional conference on the capital punishment in the Middle East and North Africa was held in Alexandria in the period of 20-21 September 2010 and that the conference was organized by the Swedish Institute in Alexandria.

We pay tribute to the efforts made by the Swedish Institute in Alexandria which took the initiative to hold such a conference on the death penalty and to emphasize the need that it should be curbed. It is noteworthy that the Swedish Institute has also held a workshop from 12-14 May 2008 in which we participated as an Arab Coalitions against the Death Penalty. Nonetheless, we would like to express our extreme regrets for the overlooking by the Swedish Institute and its lack of interest in the continuous and systematic action and efforts which the Arab alliance made with existing Arab entities concerned about the opposition to the capital punishment in each of Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Lebanon, Palestine,  Syria, Iraq and Mauritania.

The state of lack of interest by the Swedish Institute was confirmed when the institute failed to extend invitations to the Arab Coalitions to attend the conference held in September 2010. This also confirms that the Swedish Institute and the parties that finance it are working separately and do not build on the efforts made by these Arab alliances, but regrettably, they begin from square one, and this confirms that they are squandering financial resources and the efforts made by the Arab alliances in this regard.

This should prompt the Swedish Institute and its financiers who support the institute and its conferences to pause, because they spend hefty amounts of money toward new players who have just been formed. These new players (against the death penalty) discuss the opportunities, challenges and strategies-activities that Arab Coalitions have conducted for years. The Swedish Institute ignores the fact that conferences, seminars and meetings were held by the experienced Arab Coalitions in the past, rendering these actions as insignificant. In reality, the movement is not in its beginning stages, the movement has mobilized effectively for several years now.

The alliances signing this statement would like to assert to all the parties concerned that the ability to secure funding by these organizations and institutes is not alone sufficient to make achievements. These issues cannot be solved purely by holding of conferences, inviting new persons to attend these   conference, and re-discussing topics that were discussed a few years ago is not a sound attitude under any circumstance. What is more useful and more important than this is institutional and systematic work that is done through national and regional alliances which enjoy sufficient assets of experience in this field, and this applies to each of the Arab coalitions for opposing the death penalty and the national alliances in the said countries. It is noteworthy that these alliances were formed since 2007, with significant amount of effort being exerted before the official formation.

The coalitions signing this statement are requesting the foreign organizations which receive funds from donors to carry out projects in the Arab region in accordance with accuracy and transparency. Foreign organizations such as the Swedish Institute should find constructive ways to work with existing national organizations to help curb capital punishment in the region. These actions will prevent repetition of previous efforts and allow for the better spending of valuable resources and manpower. Cooperation with experienced regional organizations will also maximize the social benefits and advances on issues such as human rights, the right to life, and the right to self-determination.

The signatory coalitions:

1-          The Arab Coalition against Death Penalty.

2-          The Egyptian Coalition against Death Penalty.

3-          The Yemeni Coalition against Death Penalty.

4-          The Jordanian Coalition against Death Penalty.

5-          The Iraqi Coalition against Death Penalty.

6-          The Mauritanian Coalition against Death Penalty.

7-           The Palestinian Coalition against Death Penalty.

8-          The Syrian Coalition against Death Penalty

9-          The Lebanese Coalition  against Death Penalty.