More executions than in the last ten years: according to the latest report by Amnesty International, at least 1,500 people were executed worldwide last year. In addition, there are thousands more in China – the exact number is unknown.

On the World Day Against the Death Penalty, it is time to come together and take a closer look. Daniel Binswanger (Republik) talks to Saghi Gholipour (Free Iran Switzerland), Noemi Grütter (Amnesty International Switzerland), Nick Bell (lifespark) and Dagmar Schmidt Tartagli (Federal Department of Foreign Affairs) about the alarming situation of women in Iran, current developments in the USA, pen pal friendships with prisoners and the situation in Zimbabwe, where the death penalty was abolished last year with the help of Swiss diplomacy. Because even if it may seem otherwise at first glance, we in Zurich are by no means powerless in the global context.

 

Daniel Binswanger, born in Zurich in 1969, is a journalist and co-editor-in-chief of the digital magazine Die Republik. He was the founder and editor of Die Republik's arts and culture section and analyses current political events in a weekly column.

Saghi Gholipour is a political scientist and co-founder of the organisation Free Iran Switzerland. The organisation was formed after the murder of 22-year-old Jina Mahsa Amini by the morality police in September 2022 and calls on Switzerland to work towards a free, secular and democratic Iran. 

Noemi Grütter is a human rights expert focusing on women's rights, the protection of human rights defenders, sexual and reproductive self-determination, and international justice. She works at Amnesty International Switzerland as a women's rights expert and campaigner for individuals at risk. She is committed to a feminist human rights policy that focuses on dignity, justice, and global solidarity.

Nick Bell is president of lifespark – movement against the death penalty, an organisation that arranges pen pal friendships with prisoners on death row in the United States. A member of Amnesty International since 1967, he has been committed to human rights for decades and believes in the power of human connection to give hope in difficult situations.

Dagmar Schmidt Tartagli (born 1966) studied international relations at the University of St. Gallen, where she also obtained her doctorate. She has been working in the diplomatic service of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (EDA) since 1997. From 2014 to 2017, she was Ambassador to the Republic of Senegal and also responsible for Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mali and Mauritania. She then took over as Deputy Head of the Swiss Mission in Italy (2017–2021). Between 2021 and 2025, Dagmar Schmidt Tartagli was Swiss Ambassador to South Korea. Since September 2025, she has been Deputy Head of the Peace and Human Rights Division at the EDA and Head of Human Rights, Democracy and Humanitarian Diplomacy.