JAPANESE BAR ASSOCIATIONS SEEK DEBATE ON ABOLITION OF DEATH PENALTY

the Japan Federation of Bar Associations came out in opposition to the death penalty, urging the government to immediately start public debate on its abolition and suspend executions while the discussions are ongoing. "The death penalty is an inhumane punishment as it claims precious life, and it robs those convicted of the potential to rehabilitate," the federation said in its declaration adopted at its annual two-day human rights meeting in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture.