Greater Caribbean For Life (GCL) was formed in 2013 with the ultimate goal of achieving the permanent abolition of the death penalty in each and every country of the Greater Caribbean Region. Our aim is to support Caribbean activists and abolitionist organizations in the region to achieve our mission.
History of the Greater Caribbean for Life:
– A new approach in the struggle for capital abolition
Until recently, the struggle for the abolition of death penalty had been carry out in an isolated manner in the various Caribbean countries.
In 2007, a large delegation from the Puerto Rican Coalition against the Death Penalty and the Puerto Rico Bar Association participated in the 3rd World Congress against the Death Penalty, held in Paris, France. On this occasion it was noticed that, apart from that delegation, only a handful of participants had come from the Greater Caribbean Region. Henceforth, a group of Puerto Rican activists started working with international abolitionist organizations such as the World Coalition against the Death Penalty, Saint Egidio Community, the International Commission against the Death Penalty, the Death Penalty Project and Amnesty International, pointing out the importance of the Caribbean region in the abolitionist struggle.
The First Greater Caribbean Conference against the Death Penalty was held in Madrid, Spain in October 2011, with the support of the international abolitionist community. The participants, consisting of human rights advocates and representatives of civil society organizations from various Caribbean countries, re-affirmed their commitment to fighting for the abolition of the death penalty and agreed to work together to establish a sustainable organization and network of persons and civil society organizations who share this objective. A Working Group with representatives from 4 Caribbean countries was elected to spearhead such purpose under the interim name of Greater Caribbean for Life.
Efforts by the working group gave another strong impetus to the formal constitution of a regional abolitionist organization, and two years later, at the Second Greater Caribbean Conference against the Death Penalty organized in Trinidad & Tobago on the 2nd and 3rd of October 2013, with the participation of activists and organizations from 12 Caribbean countries, the Greater Caribbean for Life Organisation (GCL) was officially created.
GCL is an independent, not-for-profit civil society organization incorporated under the laws of Puerto Rico which strives to create a culture of respect for the right to life and for the dignity of all human beings.
Key Documents:
The Abolition Project
Our project runs from 2018 – 2021 and focuses on strengthening the anti-death penalty movement in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean
Our project is a partnership with the Death Penalty Project (UK), The World Coalition Against The Death Penalty, University of the West Indies and the SVG Human Rights Association with Funding from the European Union
Our project aims to create a platform for death penalty reform in the target countries leading toward abolition through advocacy, educational awareness and campaigns across the region.
The Greater Caribbean For Life 