On Italy's passionate opposition to death penalty

By Gayle Young

CNN Rome Bureau Chief

February 24, 2000

(This news analysis was written for CNN Interactive.)

ROME (CNN) -- Rome's famous Coliseum, where doomed captives were once tortured and slaughtered for the amusement of the populace, is now becoming a symbol of modern-day Italy's virulent hatred of capital punishment.

Usually the postcard-pretty amphitheater with an ugly past is bathed in cold white lights during hours of darkness. But whenever a death sentence is commuted anywhere in the world, the city authorities switch the lights to gold in tribute.

Recently, Bermuda passed a law banning the death penalty. So on a cold rainy night, a small crowd gathered at the base of the Coliseum's crumbling porticos to hold a candlelight vigil under the golden glow.

Elizabetta Zanparutti explained why she and her fellow protesters were standing in freezing rain because of what was going on in a small island nation half a world away.

"I am not living only in Italy," Zanparutti said. "We are moving toward a global community and we should reach a common standard on certain principles, such as human rights."