Day: October 12, 2025

World Day Against the Death Penalty


10th October was the World Day calling for an end to this barbaric penalty

October 2025

The 25th World Day was last Friday and there is a post by the International Bar Association Human Rights Institution with further details. The IBAHRI Co-Chair Mark Stephens CBE commented: ‘The death penalty is a legal relic that belongs in the dustbin of history. It is cruel, inhuman, and degrading – not justice, but a failure of it. The IBAHRI condemns its use in all circumstances. We applaud those nations that have had the moral courage to abolish it and urge those still clinging to this barbarism to follow suit. The global tide is turning – abolition is not just inevitable, it is imperative.’

Amnesty is focusing in its latest campaign against the use of the penalty as a tool of repression. Trends recorded so far in 2025 indicate that executions have significantly increased in some countries, when compared to figures registered in recent years. Among these rises, some governments have shown renewed determination to use this cruel punishment as a tool of repression and control. This has frequently happened in the context of flawed narratives intended to create a false impression of security through a display of heavy-handed responses from the state, and to score political points. These narratives have also fostered a flagrant disregard for safeguards and restrictions under international
human rights law and standards that have been established to protect people facing execution from being arbitrarily deprived of their lives.

Held every year on 10 October, the World Day against the Death Penalty is organised by the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (WCADP), of which the IBAHRI is a member.

Our group has campaigned for years for an end to the penalty. It is not a deterrent against crime, mistakes cannot be corrected if new evidence comes to light and the effects on those who have to carry it out is seldom taken into account. We publish a report every month and the latest is available here. We shall be following up the Amnesty campaign in later posts.

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Latest minutes and news


October 2025

We are pleased to attach our latest October group minutes and news thanks to group member Lesley for preparing them and to other group members for their contributions. The summary from our monthly death penalty report is included and the effects of the more aggressive approach to the use of the penalty in the US can be seen all too clearly.

We have become more concerned at the increasing threats to our membership of the ECHR and to the Human Rights Act. Both Reform and the Conservatives are talking in these terms and the Labour party is less than full-throated in its support.

The weekly vigils are continuing and we hope the ceasefire holds and negotiations can lead to a lasting settlement for both the Israelis and Palestinians.

Immigration and boat crossings continue to make considerable political waves with all parties trying to outdo each other. There is a report in the minutes which can be read separately here.

We are also trying to interest local schools in human rights issues which we hope to be able to report on at the next meeting.

The next meeting is on 13 November.

Minutes, October (Word)Download
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97th vigil


The 97th vigil in Salisbury – peace at last in the region?

October 2025

This vigil, the 97th, took place after ceasefire and hostage release deal was agreed a few days ago. The remaining hostages will be released very soon – maybe tomorrow (Sunday) – and a significant number of Palestinians will be released from Israel jails. The bombing appears to have stopped and thousands are returning to what’s left of their homes in north Gaza. The IDF has pulled back and now occupies less of Gaza than recently.

With the ceasefire underway and negotiations continuing concerning the 20 point plan initiated by the Americans, we wondered, as we said in our last post, whether to continue. A kind of answer was delivered at this vigil when well over 40 attended with a number of new faces, and 29 cars and other vehicles, sounded their horns in recognition.

A video of the vigil is available here produced by Peter Gloyns to whom we are grateful.

Needless to say we wish the process well and hope the negotiations bear fruit. We would like nothing more than to stay home on a Saturday evening. Will it last? The first thing to note is that it was forced on both sides by the Trump administration and their shift in tone followed the bombing of Qatar where they have their major Middle Eastern base.

Peace will last if both sides see it as being in their best interests to do so. It is not clear that is the case and there are extreme positions on each side. Israel has suffered in the conflict with a rising deficit, low growth of around 1% and a large exodus of skilled people. Since the tech sector is a major part of their economy, this is of concern. Foreign direct investment is falling and the shekel is weak. It is close to becoming a pariah state as witnessed at the UN with the hall emptying when Netanyahu arrived to speak. Despite this, the resolve to destroy Hamas and prevent a Palestinian state is a powerful force.

Hamas has been seriously weakened and Iran is not at present able to offer the same level of support to the various terrorist groups in the region.

We will continue with the vigils in the hope that the ceasefire continues. At present there seems no prospect of a Palestinian state.

The Salisbury MP, Mr John Glen, has never appeared at these vigils nor mentioned them in his weekly column in the local paper. He is listed as being a member of the well funded Conservative Friends of Israel group.

Image: The South African

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