A simple gesture like signing HOC's online appeal can...

A simple gesture like signing HOC's online appeal can be the first step in resolving such contradictions, Bonino said. Tens of thousands of people have already signed the appeal, published by Nexta.com, and HOC's new Spanish partner Ya.com, which sponsored the Madrid launch along with Elmundo.es, MTV.es, and the EU.
Sergio D'Elia, HOC Secretary, said he was asking the Spanish government to prompt the EU to win the battle it had shirked in at UNGA in 1999.
Of 196 countries in the international community, 127 have abolished the death penalty or do not apply it, whereas only 69 continue to carry out executions. However, the annual number of executions is paradoxically increasing, D'Elia said.
In 2001, almost 4,500 executions were recorded worldwide, with China topping the executioners' list with 3,500. The battle against the death penalty is also, D'Elia said, a battle for democracy.
Chart-topping Italian singer Enrico Ruggeri, representing the Nazionale Italiana Cantanti, one of the sponsors, described how a group of well-known and less well-known singers had got together a football team to set up games with such adversaries as Formula 1 pilots for charity.
"We were lucky to be born in that part of the world where people are more likely to die from indigestion than from hunger, and we wanted to use our fame and the money we made thanks to it to help others," Ruggeri said.
Hands Off Cain's moratorium campaign is a worthy cause for the Nazionale Cantanti, Ruggeri said, urging Spanish singers to set up a similar team.
HOC's anti-death penalty campaign is a fine way of putting the globalization brought about by Internet to good use, according to sponsor Ya.com, one of the major Spanish websites, that is hosting the campaign banner to gather signature's for the appeal.
BBIGG Internet Cafe undertook to provide access to the online appeal to its clients all over Spain.
Progressive Socialist MP for the Comunidad de Madrid, Cristina Almeida, declared her support for HOC's campaign and reminded the audience, and viewers connected to Ya.com's live transmission of Safiya Hussaini, who faces death by stoning for having a child out of wedlock.
In an emotionally-charged voice, Joaquin Martinez, the Spanish national condemned to death in the US last year, then found innocent, thanked everyone for their commitment to abolish the death penalty.
Belen, of the all female funky-soul group Greta y los Garbo, drew a parallel between cannibalism and the death penalty. Capital punishment will be eradicated in the same way cannibalism has been wiped out, she said.
Journalist Mercedes Mila gave her full support to the moratorium campaign, and singer Cristina del Valle said Internet was an extraordinary medium to raise public awareness about the death penalty.
Musician Benito Zambrano urged the Spanish government to carry on the fight against the death penalty with determination, and one of Spain's best-loved chefs, Abraham Garcia emphasized the synergy between Italy and Spain in upholding human rights.