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ALIVE – COALITION TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY

… is a registered non-profit organization that works for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty.

… was founded on 28th of August 2000.

… works completely voluntary.

… finances through member ship fees and donations.

… is working on the field of direct inmate care.

… is focusing on the US, because the language barrier is not so high as for example in Arab states; because the executions are not carried out as fast as for example in China; and because it's easier to get information as for example in Japan.

… has also the goal to speak out to the public about the true character of the death penalty.

What we want

Our main goal is the worldwide abolition of the death penalty, because we are convinced that the death penalty is inhuman and against the human dignity. For ALIVE e. V. the death penalty itself is a violation of human rights and this for absolute EACH and EVERY case (regardless of guilt or the crime committed).  

Until we will reach this big goal, we focus on direct inmate care. Here the motto of ALIVE is: We work together with the prisoners and not for the prisoners! This means that we offer the inmates in some way help to help themselves.

We always motivate the prisoners to use their time actively. For that we offer for example an inmate-magazine they can actively participate, also an annual art contest, they can submit their artwork to.
We support the inmates in making contacts to the free world. These contacts shall help – by writing forth and back with a pen friend – to escape the isolation on death row. On the other side these contacts are meant allow the prisoners to experience a bit of “normal life” and through this wake their – often disordered - social consciousness respectively make this social consciousness stronger.
Another focus of our work is the field of education and information. Publications and public relations work are used to inform about the true character of the death penalty and shall help to build up an own opinion basing on facts.
 

What we do not want

With working against the death penalty ALIVE e. V. does not want to define down violent crimes or idealize criminals in any case!
To take a human life is one of the worst crimes and there is no excuse for that. Looking for explanations about how it could happen – as for example a bad childhood or drug addiction – is not meant to question the seriousness of the crime or to look for excuses, but solely meant to learn from these explanations to be able to act preventively in future.
We believe that even violent criminals should get a second chance under certain circumstances after their sentence is served. On the other hand we do not have any problem with life without parole in cases of sex offenders or repeat offenders for example, because the protection of the society comes first here.
The victims are not forgotten
We assure all victims and victim families that we do not forget the victims, their relatives, and friends. The victims and their family own our deep sympathy and we want not let them down at the hardest time of their life. Therefore we are here for talking at any time.

Member care

Most ALIVE members have friends on death row and experience their ups and downs directly. We support each other during difficult times. We also offer support with organizing visits on death row and with other things. 

ALIVE Board:

ALIVE e. V. needs your support

ALIVE e. V. always welcomes new members!

All our members do this work voluntarily and membership fees and donations are our only source of financing.

Donations are always welcome...