Proceedings Oslo 2016

“Convincing students of the need to take a position against the death penalty is not easy, particularly at an age when the notion of justice is confused with that of vengeance.”
Marianne Rossi, Teaching Abolition Coordinator, ECPM, France

In order to move towards universal abolition, it is essential to teach younger generations about the meaning of the death penalty and the absolute necessity of ending it. That is why human rights organisations are developing advocacy for education about abolition within the Teaching Abolition International Network, and working to develop appropriate and innovative pedagogy aimed at young people, presented in this workshop. The participants discovered a variety of teaching tools which can be used in a formal or informal context. An example of successful mobilisation in Tunisia was also presented.

At a time when numerous States bear witness to great violence, discussion of abolition of the death penalty is not, or is no longer, obvious to everyone, particularly young people, even in abolitionist States. We must bear in mind the fact that the young people of today are the activists, magistrates and politicians of tomorrow. It is therefore important that they become aware of the reality of the death penalty, the importance of abolishing it and, for countries where it has already been abolished, the importance of preventing its return.

It is from this perspective that educational initiatives run by human rights organisations for children and young people aged 5 to 18 have appeared in various countries, including France, Taiwan, Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco and Tanzania. They are being developed in both formal contexts (schools) and informal ones (citizenship clubs, youth clubs). This workshop was an opportunity for members of the Teaching Abolition International Network (ECPM, IADH, LACR and the Moroccan Coalition), as well as the Children Education Society and Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty, to present their tools and methodologies aimed at raising awareness and mobilising young people around abolition of the death penalty.

As regards work in more formal situations, the organisations meet young people in schools and cooperate with teachers by providing them with lesson modules adapted to the school curriculum (ECPM and CHESO), or encouraging them to create teaching tools themselves (TAEDP). Within that framework, the work with young people is diverse and varied: debates with pupils from middle and high schools as well as participation by “abolition witnesses”, particularly prisoners previously sentenced and exonerated or pardoned the families of prisoners, enabling young people to give the death penalty a human face (ECPM, Moroccan and Tunisian Coalitions); the creation of citizenship clubs in primary and secondary schools where young people lead action themselves to learn about issues and sensitive subjects such as the death penalty (IADH). In Lebanon, Tanzania and Morocco, activities mix education with fun through discussion about the death penalty followed by role play, such as the hot air balloon presented at the workshop.

These awareness-raising activities take place in schools but they can also overflow into informal areas thanks to the creation of specific educational tools. In Morocco for example, the cartoon “Sentenced to Die”, designed by the Moroccan Organisation for Human Rights, was presented in schools but it is a tool that young people can read at home and give to their friends and families. Similarly, ECPM has developed a bilingual (French/English) collaborative board game called Abolition Now! It allows young people to learn about a variety of strategies to abolish the death penalty in 10 countries across the world, while taking on the roles of all the institutional, voluntary sector and media actors committed to universal abolition of the death penalty.

Creating these teaching tools could be full of pitfalls: the level of design, their distribution and their use. It is not just about creating such tools but working with the teachers who are inclined to use them with their pupils.

Jiazhen Wu, Deputy Director of Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty, shares her experience of mobilising young people and working with teachers in Taiwan (see sidebar: Jiazhen Wu’s story).

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Interview with Jiazhen Wu

Jiazhen Wu, Deputy Director - Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty

Why did you choose to work in schools with your organisation, Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty?
There was an unofficial moratorium in Taiwan from 2006 to 2009 but executions resumed in 2010. The subject of the death penalty is therefore still very much alive in the public arena and we felt that more and more teachers wanted to find a way to raise this subject with their pupils. By meeting a few teachers, it was as if we had discovered several holes in an enormous dam. That encouraged us to develop action in the school environment. It is an important way to make progress on the issue of the death penalty.

How did you develop your project?
In 2009, we wanted to use the tools developed by the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. So we translated them but then we realised that we could not use them in the Taiwanese school system. In 2013, with the help of activists and academics specialising in the death penalty, we started to design teaching tools. However, the new obstacle this time was that we didn’t have either the resources to publish them or the teachers to work with. However, little by little we were able to meet teachers from primary and secondary schools who wanted to know more about the death penalty and we therefore managed to test the tools in a few schools. A year later, we organised a workshop open to all teachers to find out about these tools and about 30 teachers answered the call. That allowed us to better understand the restrictions of their profession, particularly the little time they have available to work on subjects which are not in the curriculum. We therefore adapted our tools to specific school contexts.

Did you present a specific tool at the Congress?
This tool is aimed at children aged 8 to 11. It involves an illustrated book called Niuniu Gets Into Trouble. Niuniu is a stray dog who is adopted by a class of children. This happens quite a lot in Taiwan. One day, Niuniu is found with the body of a little rabbit in his mouth; the rabbit is looked after by another class. We ask the children: “do you think Niuniu killed the rabbit?” and the first debate is held. The question of whether the dog is guilty is posed very quickly and no answer is provided; there is information missing, as is often the case in criminal cases. From the book, we organise a role play where small groups of children each play a character: Niuniu, the suspect, the rabbit who is the victim, and also the class which looked after the rabbit and who are in some way its family. The head teacher of the school acts as the judge and a dialogue begins. Together, they must tackle at least two questions: what should happen to Niuniu after this incident? And what should be done to prevent incidents like this happening again? Often, other questions follow: what should be done for the rabbit’s class, the victim’s family? That gives very interesting results. Some pupils suggest giving Niuniu to another school to give him a second chance. Others suggest shutting him up but letting him out so they can play with him or train him so he doesn’t do it again…and some suggest sending him to the pound. In Taiwan, that means that if no one claims Niuniu within 12 days, he will be killed. What is interesting is that relatively few children vote for the last solution at the end of the debate. In the end, it is the head teacher who calls a meeting to decide the fate of the animal. There again, the children must decide which parties to involve, who to invite to the meeting. The last page of the book shows a truck from the pound parked outside the school and a man holding a net to catch the animal but that’s all. We don’t know if the dog has been caught; the ending is open for the children to imagine the next part.

We are very proud of this tool. Now we’re working on developing lesson modules for high school pupils aged 16 to 18. At that age, there is a lot of information to get across and, above all, other ways of communicating it. Earlier this year, we organised a workshop to refine new tools and we are planning another in a few months.

MOBILISING YOUNG PEOPLE around THE ABOLITIONIST CAUSE

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