Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin to Participate in the World Congress against the Death Penalty

Congress from November 15–18 in Berlin / Exhibition at Humboldt-Universität now on / Exhibition at Freie Universität from November 10–18

Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin are hosting two exhibitions and three discussions for the World Congress against the Death Penalty from November 15 to 18, 2022. The event is being organized by the French human rights organization Ensemble contra la peine de mort (ECPM). The photography exhibition at Humboldt-Universität depicts nineteen portraits of human rights activists who have been or were dedicated to abolishing the death penalty. This includes Christian Broda (1916–1987), former Minister of Justice of Austria and contributor to Protocol No. 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights concerning the abolition of the death penalty. Other portraits of people who were sentenced to receive the death penalty will also be on display, such as Susan Kugula, who spent eleven years on death row in Uganda before she was released in 2016. The exhibition is now open and can be visited in front of Humboldt-Universität at Unter den Linden 6. The legal scholar Professor Martin Heger from Humboldt-Universität will also be giving a talk on November 14 entitled “Death Penalty Today – A European Perspective in a Time of Unrest,” which will be followed by a discussion with contemporary witnesses impacted by this method of punishment.

Students of law examine legal questions surrounding the death penalty as part of their studies. At Freie Universität Berlin students can participate in two projects – “FU Law Clinic – Practice of Criminal Defense” and “FU Law Clinic Post-Conviction” – led by Professor Carsten Momsen and Professor Kirstin Drenkhahn, who work with lawyers and human rights organizations in Europe and the US to campaign for the abolition of the death penalty. Professor Florian Jeßberger at Humboldt-Universität has been an active advisory board member of the human rights organization European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) for many years and has published articles on issues surrounding the death penalty. Questions related to international and historical criminal justice policies are examined at Humboldt-Universität as part of the criminal law program and in interdisciplinary seminars.

The World Congress against the Death Penalty is organized by the French non-governmental organization Ensemble contra la peine de mort (ECPM). For over twenty years, ECPM has been at the forefront of the global fight to abolish the death penalty. The World Congress against the Death Penalty first took place in 2001, and ECPM selects a strategically important city for the event every three years. The congress has been held in cities such as Madrid, Oslo, and Brussels in the past.

Department of Law at Freie Universität Berlin: Events at a Glance

Exhibition: Final Moments on Death Row

• November 10–18, Henry Ford Building of Freie Universität Berlin, Garystraße 35, 14195 Berlin
• The exhibition articulates the perspectives and experiences of people who are on death row and the institutions that have sentenced them to death. It will present the work of documentarian Marc Asnin and photojournalist Scott Langley. It combines Marc Asnin’s recent text-based work, “Final Words,” consisting of the last statements of executed prisoners in the state of Texas, and Scott Langley’s long-term photo documentary, “Timeline of an Execution,” which chronicles the interior and exterior of a prison during an execution.

Panel Discussion

• November 14, 2022, from 6:30 p.m. Henry Ford Building at Freie Universität Berlin, Lecture Hall A
• Welcome address via video call from Vice President for International Affairs at Freie Universität Berlin Professor Verena Blechinger-Talcott
• Discussion in English between the executive director of ECPM and a person who was found innocent and released from prison after being sentenced to death, as well as a presentation by the legal scholars Professor Carsten Momsen and Professor Christine Morgenstern, Freie Universität Berlin, on the death penalty in Germany.

Panel Discussion

• November 16, 2022, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., Boltzmannstr. 3
• Event with the documentarian Marc Asnin and photojournalist Scott Langley as well as students of Freie Universität Berlin
• Please register before November 11, 2022 by sending an email to lsmomsen@zedat.fu-berlin.de.

Faculty of Law at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin: Events at a Glance

Exhibition: Les visages de l’abolition

• Now until November 18, 2022; on the railings of the Ehrenhof forecourt at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10117 Berlin
• The exhibition displays portraits and quotes from people who were and are campaigners against the death penalty in France, Europe, and around the world. This will include portraits by the photographer Christophe Meireis, who took photos of people who were sentenced to receive the death penalty and later acquitted.

Lecture and Discussion

• November 14, 2022, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Lichthof Ost Atrium, Unter den Linden 6, 10117 Berlin
• This will be followed by a discussion with contemporary witnesses. Dr. Yoan Vilain, head of the International Department at Humboldt-Universität, will hold the welcome address.
• Lecture by Professor Martin Heger from the Legal Faculty at Humboldt-Universität and expert in criminal law and modern legal history.

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