A group of 122 lawmakers calling for the abolition...

A group of 122 lawmakers calling for the abolition of the death penalty in Japan said they would submit a bill demanding a halt to hangings to the current Diet session in June 2003. "We have finally agreed on a plan that will seek to institutionalize a moratorium on executions as its top priority," said Social Democratic Party lawmaker Nobuto Hosaka, who served as secretary general of the non-partisan Diet group. In view of the group's failures in the past, the bill would halt hangings, in three stages, instead of aiming for the abolishment of capital punishment. The first stage would set up a temporary panel in both houses of the Diet for three years in order to discuss whether capital punishment should be kept. The second would be revision of the Code of Criminal Procedure to halt executions while the Diet panels are discussing the measure, although the death penalty would be retained on the statute books. While the period of discussions is set at three years, the moratorium on executions should be put at four years to allow time for adjustments, according to the Diet group. The third stage would be the introduction of a sentence of life without parole. In order to give convicts an opportunity to apply for leniency, the Amnesty Law would also be revised so as to offer convicts parole after 25 years at the earliest.