” “The European Union will organise the first official Day against death penalty on October 10th. It was announced today by the deputy president of the EU Commission, Franco Frattini, at the end of the informal council of the Ministers of Justice and Security of the EU in Dresden, following protests against death penalty across the world, that have escalated after the hanging of Saddam Hussein and two of his collaborators in Iraq. Portugal, which will be president of the European Union for the second half of the year, has already said it is going to organise such Day by the end of this year. Death penalty is banned in Europe but it still exists in 68 countries across the world. The EU is asking for the ban to be extended to the whole world. A few hours after the hanging of Saddam’s collaborators, the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, said he supports the Italian demand to discuss the moratorium against death penalty at the United Nations.” “
