19/06/2001

Colosseum Lights Are Gold for Chile

ROME (AP) � The Roman Colosseum was bathed in golden light Tuesday to celebrate Chile's abolition of capital punishment, reviving the ancient arena's modern-day role as the centerpiece of a campaign against the death penalty.

The landmark arena, once a killing ground for gladiators and wild beasts, became a symbol of international opposition to the death penalty last year. Every time someone in the world was spared execution or a country did away with the death penalty, the white lights that normally illuminate the Colosseum were switched to gold.

The golden lights burned 14 times in 2000, the final time in July to celebrate Uganda's commutation of 16 death sentences. The campaign was revived Tuesday when the lights went on to honor Chile, which recently abolished its death penalty � a bright spot for death penalty foes, who gather this week at an international conference in Strasbourg, France.

The Colosseum campaign's sponsors include the United Nations, the city of Rome, the Vatican, the Italian anti-death penalty group Hands off Cain, the Rome-based Roman Catholic peace group Sant' Egidio and Amnesty International.

To the dismay of many in Europe, the United States has resumed federal executions, putting to death Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh eight days ago and executing convicted murderer and drug trafficker Juan Raul Garza on Tuesday.

Like other countries in Western Europe, Italy long ago abolished capital punishment. Italians have staunchly campaigned against the death penalty, adopting the causes of a number of death row prisoners in the United States.