UN PANEL RAPS JAPAN'S DEATH PENALTY, POLICE DETENTION

members of a UN human rights panel criticised Japan's death penalty and police detention, many calling for their abolishment during a meeting in Geneva. The Human Rights Committee, meeting to discuss the situation in Japan for the first time in 10 years, is scheduled to announce its recommendation report for the country at the end of October, according to its members. Chairman Rafael Rivas Posada remarked in closing that there have not been sufficient follow up or improvements from the panel's previous review of the human rights conditions in Japan. The panel, made up of 18 legal and other experts, normally reviews the human rights situation of each of the 162 parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights once every five to six years to check on their compliance. But the review on Japan was delayed this time as the government was late in submitting its periodic report.