21 February 2007 :

Italy is "working hard, within the shortest period of time, to hold a debate and a vote at the UN General Assembly on the proposal for the universal moratorium on capital punishment". Italy's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Massimo D'Alema, announced this in the Italian Senate, adding that the Govermnent wishes to commit Prime Minister Mr Prodi's foreign policy to "matters of principle such as human rights".
This is proven, Mr D'Alema said, by Italy's compaign for the moratorium of capital punishment, "an initiative that can only be a long-term one."