41. Hours before she was to die, the U.S. Supreme Court turned down without comment an emergency request to halt the execution. 42. In a meeting of justice ministers from Caribbean countries last week, several complained that human rights groups were ganging up on them and pressuring them to halt executions. 43. In June, the state court temporarily halted another execution. 44. It called on U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the U.N. Human Rights Commission and other international human rights groups to pressure Iraq to halt executions of prisoners. 45. Last week, the department asked Virginia to halt the execution of a Paraguayan man for similar reasons. 46. Leading international human rights organizations had urged the government of President Pasteur Bizimungu to halt the executions. 47. Lawyers for the defendants are planning to petition the Supreme Court to halt the execution on the grounds that prison officials failed to comply with certain rules. 48. Leading international human rights organizations have urged the government of President Pasteur Bizimungu to halt the executions. 49. Negotiators are still arguing over a paragraph that calls on countries with capital punishment to halt executions while they investigate any possible slant against specific racial groups. 50. On Thursday, leading international human rights organizations had urged the government of President Pasteur Bizimungu to halt the executions. |