The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area–Background Paper 2019 2.2.2 Participating States’ engagement in national or international activities relevant to the issue of the death penalty The activities of certain OSCE participating States were commented upon in the UN Secretary-General’s report in July 2018.248 Italy, working with Amnesty International Italy, Nessuno tocchi Caino (Hands Off Cain) and the Community of Sant’Egidio, continued to strengthen co-operation in the activities carried out in the run-up to the UN General Assembly resolution. Slovenia emphasised that it had raised the issue of the death penalty in the Human Rights Council and in the context of the Universal Periodic Review. Sweden’s efforts to advocate for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide through its foreign policy were also noted.249 On 25 September 2018, during the UN General Assembly session, there was a high-level side event on the death penalty, centring on how it affects those living in poverty and addressing the right to legal representation. This was organized by the Mission of Italy and France to the UN, in co-operation with the Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights and others.250 On this occasion, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights made a statement on the same topic. The High Commissioner emphasised the need for a reliable rule of law system to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (particularly number 16: equal access to justice for all) and clarified that rule of law is indistinguishable from human rights. She stated emphatically that “there is no more heart-rending example of the failure of the rule of law than when inequity in justice systems is compounded by poverty to expose people to the ultimate injustice of the death penalty.”251 At this high-level side event, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher spoke on behalf of the Holy See, quoting Pope Francis’ new revision of number 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the death penalty.252 In this revision from 2 August 2018, 248  Report of the Secretary-General, Moratorium on the use of the death penalty, op. cit., note 62, para. 11. 249  “World Day Against the Death Penalty”, Swedish Foreign Policy Stories, 10 October 2018, <http://www. swemfa.se/2018/10/10/world-day-against-the-death-penalty-10-october/>. 250  “UN General Assembly, High-level side event on death penalty: poverty and the right to legal representation”, 25 September 2018, <https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/upload.teamup.com/908040/fdmfEiYWSNCsG3EDCDmJ_180925pm-italy-deathpenalty.pdf>. 251  “Poverty makes people especially vulnerable to injustice”, Statement by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, 25 September 2018, <https://www.ohchr.org/SP/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23631&LangID=E>. 252  “Death penalty: poverty and the right to legal representation”, H. E. Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, 25 September 2018, <https://holyseemission.org/contents//statements/5baaaf31efb8d.php>. 48