30/11/2005

Cities light up monuments against death penalty

Over 380 towns around the world joined forces on Wednesday to condemn the death penalty, as the United States prepared to carry out its 1,000th execution since reinstating capital punishment 30 years ago.

Rome's Colosseum, Brussels' Atomium, Madrid's Santa Ana Square, Buenos Aires' Obelisk and the Moneda Palace in Santiago were being lit up as part of the "Cities for Life" initiative, according to the organizer, the Catholic Sant' Egidio Community in Rome.

Many of the other towns and cities that have signed up to the initiative -- around half of them in Italy -- were hosting vigils or rallies to mark the day.

"Capital punishment supports a culture of death instead of fighting it, and puts the state on the same level as those who kill," said Sant'Egidio spokesman Mario Marazziti.

The date of November 30 was chosen to commemorate the abolition of the death penalty in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in 1786.

This year it looked set to coincide with the scheduled execution in Virginia of Robin Lovitt, who would have been the 1,000th person put to death in the United States since 1976.

The execution was stopped by Virginia's governor because DNA evidence in Lovitt's trial had been illegally destroyed -- but the milestone is almost certain to be reached on Friday, when two other death row inmates are scheduled to be executed.

"This is not a record that we are proud of. It's an 'eye for an eye' kind of mentality," said Dave Atwood of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, in Rome.

About 100 people demonstrated outside the U.S. embassy in the Italian capital on Wednesday, holding candles and anti-death penalty banners.

Opponents say that support for capital punishment is weakening around the world. According to Amnesty International, five countries abolished the death penalty last year, bringing the total to 120.

Even so, the death penalty ended more lives in 2004 than at nearly any time in the last 25 years, Amnesty said.