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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. 

Japan hangs four

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Japan has hanged four convicted murderers, despite international calls for it to stop executions.

Japan is the only industrialised country other than the United States to enforce the death penalty.

The four executed prisoners had all been convicted of murder and each was given only last-minute notice that they were heading to the gallows.

Japan is stepping up its hangings of death row prisoners and last year it executed 15, the highest number in three decades.

While the death penalty has strong public support in Japan, international human rights groups have called on it to stop the executions.

Amnesty International says it will issue a protest to the Japanese Government over the latest hangings.

Source: ABC News.net.au, January 29, 2009
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