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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. 

Belarus Free Theatre to bring battle against death penalty to UK

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Belarus President
Alexander Lukashenko
Belarus Free Theatre will present a new piece – their first in English – that challenges the use of capital punishment around the world at the Young Vic this summer.

Trash Cuisine, which will follow its London dates with a week-long run at the Edinburgh Fringe, will argue that state-sanctioned capital punishment breeds a wider culture of violence. It will blend verbatim testimony with music, dance and sections from Shakespeare's tragedies.

Belarus is the last European country to employ the death penalty, and was urged last year to abandon the policy by the EU and Human Rights Watch in the wake of two high-profile executions. Vladislav Kovalyov and Dmitry Konovalov, both 26, were put to death last March after being convicted of a bomb attack that took place less than a year before. Kovalyov's mother has since travelled around the world, maintaining her son's innocence.

Trash Cuisine will also feature testimonials drawn from some of the other 94 countries worldwide where the death penalty remains in use, including Thailand and Malaysia. Interviewees include executioners, human rights lawyers, inmates and their families. "For us, it's always important that we talk to people personally," Kaliada explained.

Belarus Free Theatre is banned from performing in its home country and, in the past three months, its underground performances in Minsk have been subject to five police raids.


Source: The Guardian, March 27, 2013
Location: Belarus
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