Roma (Fides Service) - Wednesday 26 November 2003 at midday in Piazza S. Egidio, 3/a there will be the presentation of initiatives for World Day Against the Death Penalty. S. Egidio Community, Rome city council and a coalition of international human rights organisations is calling on countries around the world to abolish capital punishment in the first World Day Against the Death Penalty No Justice Without Life 30 November 2003. A week of initiatives to mark World Day Against the Death Penalty will take place in 150 cities all over the world. The coalition chose 30 November as the inaugural date, the anniversary of the first occasion the death penalty was abolished, said to have been in Tuscany, in 1786. The coalition, which has come together under the banner Together Against the Death Penalty, wants to bring pressure on nations like China and the United States, where the death penalty is still widely used. On November 30 the Colosseum will be lit up which is the signal that an execution order is overturned or a country abolishes capital punishment.
Cities taking part include Paris, London, New York, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, as well as Rome and other cities across Italy. Barcelona will light up its famous cathedral, Santiago plans to illuminate central park, while Belgium will light up its Atomium structure, with a dove of peace on the top. (S.L.) (Fides Service 25/11/2003 – lines 16; words 203)