On December 12, the initiative "The Coliseum illuminates...

On December 12, the initiative "The Coliseum illuminates life" was inaugurated. The ancient monument synonymous with Rome has become the symbol of a worldwide campaign against the death penalty. Throughout 2000 the lights illuminating the Coliseum will change from white to gold for two days every time a State decides to impose the moratorium on executions or abolish the death penalty, or when an execution is suspended or a death sentence commuted. From December 12 to 31, the lights at the Coliseum burned golden in honor of the following decisions: launch of the initiative plus the abolition of the death penalty in Albania (December 12); commutation of the death sentence of Wendell Flowers (North Carolina, USA) (December 17-18); commutation of 30 death sentences to life imprisonment in Thailand (December 19 - illumination extended for a third night); abolition of the death penalty in Turkmenistan (December 31/1999-January 1/2000). The campaign's sponsors include the United Nations, the Italian Government, 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.