UN SECRETARY GENERAL BACKS ITALY ON DEATH PENALTY BAN

Italy earned the backing of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in its drive to ban the death penalty worldwide. Speaking to reporters after a meeting in Rome with Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema, Ban 'welcomed' an Italian proposal for a death penalty moratorium and efforts to promote a global ban on capital punishment.
'The High Commissioner for Human Rights and I fully support the growing tendency in the international community towards the abolition of the use of the death penalty,' Ban said. D'Alema said his government was working on a resolution to be submitted to the UN General Assembly.
He noted that 'a large consensus' was needed and acknowledged that several countries are insisting they did not consider the ban urgent.