The Conference sponsored by the Council of Europe on...

The Conference sponsored by the Council of Europe on "Justice and the Rights of Man in the observer countries of the CoE: the abolition of the death penalty", just come to an end in Tokyo, was attended by the Minister of Justice, Mrs. Mayumi Moriyama and 63 members of parliament, the former death-row prisoner Sakae Menda, and 11 members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The CoE promoted the initiative to strengthen the request made in the resolution of June 2001 to the observer countries at the CoE (the USA and Japan) to take significant steps towards the abolition of the death penalty by January 2003, otherwise their status as observers will be suspended.
The Japanese Minister of Justice believes that due to the widespread support for the death penalty among the general public, it is Parliament that must decide. The politicians, who account for a slim 15 percent of the members of parliament, know they have a tough battle ahead. "We do still have a long way to go," Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Shizuka Kamei. " I want to take legislative proceedings and endeavour to shape public opinion," said Kamei.
The League of Japanese Parliamentarians for the abolition of the death penalty, composed of 113 members of parliament pledged to present a white paper for the introduction of a moratorium on executions and the replacement of the death penalty with life imprisonment. Sakae Menda - who spent nearly 35 years in prison before a retrial in 1983 made him Japan's first death row inmate to be released told his most vivid memory was of the 70 or so other prisoners who were hanged. "About 10 of those were appealing that they were innocent and that the sentences were wrong, and in some cases they were executed after the real perpetrator was arrested, but no ruling had been finalised," Menda said.
Vice President of the CoE Renate Wohlwend, said that Japan is not only the country of World Cup but also the country were the death penalty is applied in a cruel way.
Olivier Dupuis, Radical MEP and member of the Executive Committee of Hands Off Cain said: "The role of Japan, like that of South Korea, two democratic Asian countries, is of fundamental importance for the globalisation of democracy and human rights. Their support on the issue of the abolition of the death penalty is both possible and extremely important. A moratorium on executions is the path that can lead Japan to abolish the death penalty. To reinforce this process, however, Europe must continue to press the General Assembly of the UN to establish a universal moratorium on executions."
"If people can get information about the death penalty, how selective it is...how we have another alternative, people can change their minds," said Sister Helen Prejean, the American author of "Dead Man Walking."