11 January 2007 :

the Vatican's official newspaper decried media images of Saddam Hussein's hanging as a “spectacle” violating human rights and harming efforts to promote reconciliation in Iraq. The Vatican, which opposes the death penalty, said it was “tragic news,” even in the case of someone guilty of grave crimes, and expressed worry that it could fuel revenge and fresh violence. Also, the Italian government said it will take “formal steps” in a renewed push for a UN call for a moratorium on the death penalty. Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema sais the government would work for an end to the death penalty worldwide. Italy and all other European Union countries ban capital punishment. The execution represented a violation of the most basic rights of man, in both the way it happened and the following media attention, L'Osservatore wrote.