2000 Creation of the organisation

Michel Taube and Benjamin Menasce write a book, An Open Letter to Americans for the Abolition of the Death Penalty published by L’écart. This is followed by a campaign, “Together Against the Death Penalty in the USA”, which gathers 500,000 signatures in France. This show of strength leads to the creation of the ECPM organisation.

2001 1st World Congress Against the Death Penalty, Strasbourg

ECPM positions itself as the organisation for all abolitionist forces from across the world and organises the 1st World Congress Against the Death Penalty in Strasbourg. The event has since been organized every 3 years: in Montreal (2004), Paris (2007), Geneva (2010) and Madrid (2013).

2002 Formation of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty

At the initiative of ECPM, the 1st World Congress leads to the formation of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty in Rome on 13 May 2002. Today, it boasts over 150 members.

2005 Human Rights Prize for the fact-finding mission in DRC

For its first legal fact-finding mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the organisation is awarded the Human Rights Prize from French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin. Further missions will then be carried out in Burundi and in Rwanda; these countries have gone on to abolish the death penalty.

2007 The case of the Bulgarian nurses

ECPM lobbies presidential candidates to save 5 Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death in Libya for allegedly inoculating children with the AIDS virus.

2009 Our Body exhibition is banned

After ECPM is granted motion for summary judgement, a banning order is imposed on the Our Body exhibition in which the bodies of Chinese death row prisoners are exhibited. The Court of Appeal goes on to confirm the relevance of this ban in a decree which sets a legal precedent.

2010 Campaign for Hank Skinner

ECPM lobbies to prevent the execution of Hank Skinner. After a 15-year legal battle, the judge orders DNA analysis of the crime scene evidence, 19 years after the facts occurred.

2012 1st Regional Congress in Rabat

ECPM organises the 1st Regional Congress in Rabat to lobby the highest echelons of power in a region of the world where the death penalty remains a major issue in society. As the largest anti-death penalty event ever to be held in the Arab world, the Congress brings together over 500 people and is attended by a number of high-ranking political figures.

2013 Launch of the 1st National Network of Parliamentarians Against the Death Penalty in Morocco

Following the Regional Congress, Moroccan parliamentarians create the 1st National Network of Parliamentarians Against the Death Penalty, bringing together 250 parliamentarians from both chambers of Parliament. In the wake of this unique initiative, ECPM backs the creation of more networks in Tunisia, Lebanon, and DRC.

2015 Campaign for Serge Atlaoui and all death row prisoners in Indonesia

When Indonesia resumes executions, ECPM lobbies to prevent the execution of Serge Atlaoui, a French citizen sentenced to death. Following weeks of campaigning and the execution of 8 more people, he narrowly avoids death.

2015 1st Asian Regional Summit in Kuala Lumpur

Asia is the world’s leading retentionist region. The number of people executed in Asia remains higher than the total number of executions in the rest of the world. Oslo’s World Summit aims to build on the Regional Congress of Kuala Lumpur in order to bring the continent’s challenges to the fore.

2016 ECPM is granted consultative status with ECOSOC

ECPM reaches a major milestone by obtaining consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), granting it access to UN institutions in Geneva (Human Rights Council), New York (United Nations Headquarters and Security Council), and Vienna (UNODC-United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime).