Should we talk about death row? This is not necessarily justified in every country; however, wherever our teams and partners have investigated, the same observations return: extreme isolation, death row syndrome, marginalization, sword of Damocles over the heads of prisoners, madness and mental illness, and finally, a sense of abandonment and exclusion from human society.

Our ambition, as always, is to provide a detailed and precise knowledge of the different situations in order to enable the institutions and governments of these countries to make informed progress.  It now remains for the Mauritanian and Cameroonian governments to open the debate with ECPM and its partners. We are ready for them to grasp the openness to dialogue that we are proposing.

In another vein, but always with the aim of providing as much didactic information as possible to help us understand the world, reason, dignity and human rights, ECPM is preparing for the publication, at the beginning of July, of a reference document entitled "10 questions and answers to better understand the situation of French citizens sentenced to death in Iraq". Because fear cannot be the only adviser and because the principles of human rights, of which the French are heirs through the exemplarity of the "Enlightenment", France must address post-conflict management in Syria and Iraq, and the many death sentences of its nationals, otherwise.

Finally, as every year for the past 15 years, the ECPM tank will march during the "Marche des Pride" in Paris to proclaim loud and clear that "Love is not a crime", as part of our campaign "The death penalty is homophobic". Come and meet us in Paris, this Saturday June 29th!

Raphael Chenuil-Hazan, Executive Director, ECPM