 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Cities for Life Day" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(November 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Cities for Life Day is aworldwide festivity that supports the abolition of thedeath penalty. It is celebrated on November 30 of each year—the day in 1786 that theGrand Duchy of Tuscany, under the reign ofPietro Leopoldo (later Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II), became the first civil state in the world to do away with torture and capital punishment.
Cesare Beccaria was one of the greatest ItalianEnlightenment writers, who was noted for his masterpieceOf Crimes and Punishments (1764), which was later translated into 22 languages. In it, Beccaria put forth some of the first modern arguments against thedeath penalty. His treatise was also the first full work ofpenology, advocating reform of the criminal law system. The book was the first full-scale work to tackle criminal reform and to suggest that criminal justice should conform to rational principles.
As a consequence inItaly the first pre-unitarian state to abolish the death penalty was theGrand Duchy of Tuscany as of November 30, 1786, under the reign ofPietro Leopoldo, later Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II. So Tuscany was the first civil state in the world to do away with torture and capital punishment.
Since then in the last two centuries the refusal of death penalty has been increasing all around the world:
"In 2012, 141 states have abolished either by law or on a de facto basis the death penalty, while it is still on the books in 51 countries. Since 2007, the United Nations General Assembly has repeatedly called for a universal moratorium with a view toward total abolition of capital punishment. In 2011 progress was made in all regions of the world, particularly the United States: Illinois became abolitionist and in April 2012 Connecticut became the 17th state to abolish the death penalty, thus becoming the fifth American state to revoke capital punishment in the last five years."[1]
On the "Cities for Life Day", November 30, many important cities[2][3] around the world celebrate the first abolition of thedeath penalty by aEuropean state, decreed byLeopold II, Holy Roman Emperor ofHabsburg-Lorraine in 1786 for his Grand Duchy ofTuscany. On this occasion the participating cities show their commitment for life and against the death penalty.
On this day, participating cities illuminate a symbolic monument, such as theAtomium inBrussels, theColosseum inRome and thePlaza de Santa Ana inMadrid. Participating cities in 2009 include more than 60capitals worldwide, and over 1,200 cities and towns around the world, such as Rome, Brussels, Madrid,Ottawa,Mexico City,Berlin,Barcelona,Florence,Venice,Buenos Aires,Austin,Dallas,Antwerp,Vienna,Naples,Paris,Copenhagen,Stockholm,Reggio Emilia,Bogotá,Santiago de Chile.
By this symbolic action, these cities demand a stay of allexecutions worldwide. This initiative is promoted by theCommunity of Sant'Egidio and supported by the main international human rights organizations, gathered in theWorld Coalition Against the Death Penalty (Amnesty International,Ensemble contre la Peine de Mort,International Penal Reform,FIACAT).
In 2005, the Cities for Life Day also featured the "Africa for Life" conference about the death penalty inAfrica, in which 14ministers of justice from as many African countries participated. The conference took place in Florence, Tuscany.
Cities continue to join this cause, many in countries that maintain the death penalty.[4] In 2012 there were 1,625, of which 72 were capitals.[5]