EUROPE/ITALY - International Day Against the Death Penalty: 1,150 cities around the world to abolish the death penalty and respect for human rights

Rome (Fides Service) - Today, November 30 is World Day of "Cities for Life, Cities Against the Death Penalty": celebrated in over 1,150 cities worldwide, including 60 capitals, who are involved in the battle for the abolition of the death penalty. Each city will light up an important monument and hold gatherings and debates related to the initiative. In Rome, in the Jubilee Hall, at 3:30pm, an international conference will feature some important witnesses to the fight against the death penalty. The initiative - now in its eighth year – was promoted by the Sant'Egidio Community in 2002 and is now supported by the main international human rights groups gathered in the World Coalition Against Death Penalty (including Amnesty International, Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort, International Penal Reform, FIACAT).
Some of the major cities that have joined the campaign are: in Europe, in Belgium (Brussels, Antwerp) and in Germany (Stuttgart, Würzburg), Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Manresa), in Italy (Rome, Bari , Catania, Lucca, Naples, Florence, Padua, Alexandria, Palermo, Genoa ...) and in Slovenia (Ljubljana); in Africa: Burundi (Bujumbura, Ngozi), Chad (N'Djamena), Mozambique (Maputo), DR Congo (Bukavu, Goma, Kinshasa) Malawi (Blantyre, Lilongwe), Mali (Bamako), Burkina Faso (Ouagadougou), Benin (Cotonou, Pamacou, Save, Tangueta, Djougou), Rwanda (Kigali), Côte d'Ivoire (Abidjan), South Africa (Pretoria); in America: Canada (Saint-Jérôme), Nicaragua (Managua, Leon), Colombia (Bogota, Cali) El Salvador (San Salvador), Ecuador (Guayaquil), Mexico (Mexico City, Puebla); Peru (Lima, Miraflores), United States (El Paso, Austin, Albuquerque, Santa Fe). (SL) (Agenzia Fides 30/11/2009)