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U.S. | 'I comfort death row inmates in their final moments - the execution room is like a house of horrors'

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Reverend Jeff Hood, 40, wants to help condemned inmates 'feel human again' and vows to continue his efforts to befriend murderers in spite of death threats against his family A reverend who has made it his mission to comfort death row inmates in their final days has revealed the '"moral torture" his endeavor entails. Reverend Dr. Jeff Hood, 40, lives with his wife and five children in Little Rock, Arkansas. But away from his normal home life, he can suddenly find himself holding the shoulder of a murderer inside an execution chamber, moments away from the end of their life. 

CHINA DEFENDS USE OF DEATH PENALTY

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Sentenced to death in China
April 15, 2008: China defended its use of the death penalty and said it planned to continue "prudent" use of capital punishment.

"At present, there are more countries with the death penalty than countries without the death penalty," foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in response to a report by Amnesty International, which said China still executed far more people than any other nation last year.

"It is not the right time for China to abolish the death penalty, to abolish it would not be acceptable to the Chinese people," Jiang told reporters.
"We take prudent measures to ensure that the death penalty only applies to small numbers of criminals who committed serious crimes," she said.

Jiang did not answer a question asking whether China would address calls for greater transparency. Beijing treats death penalty figures as a state secret.

Source: Earth Times, Ap, 15/04/2008
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