“I greet with great satisfaction the new step forward, which I hope decisive, towards the abolition of the death penalty, made by the United Nations. 114 out of 193 states represented in the Third Committee voted in favour of the proposal for a universal moratorium presented by 94 Member States including ringside Italy. Abstentions increase and I hope that the strong abolitionist push registered in Commission convinces the countries that still retain the death penalty in their laws to change their opinion when the General Assembly votes on the resolution in December”. So the President of the Community of Sant'Egidio Marco Impagliazzo commented on the outcome of the UN night vote, the fifth in twenty years, which has given further impetus to the international campaign of the Community of Sant'Egidio for a more humane justice.
   
Impagliazzo emphasizes the positive news of the vote: the countries that adhere to the moratorium for the first time, Eritrea, Fiji and Suriname; in seven years, from 2007 to present day, votes against were down 30%, from 52 to 36; the adhesion of African and Asian countries “is also the result of a sustained effort to raise awareness on the issues of respect for the rights and humanity of the penalty that the Community of Sant'Egidio has led for years. Today, with more decision, we can say that there is no justice without life”.