Statement by the Committee of Ministers on the death penalty in Japan

(Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 30 March 2016
at the 1252nd meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies)

The Committee of Ministers deplores the execution of Mr Yasutoshi Kamata and Mrs Junko Yoshida in Japan on 25 March 2016. It recalls that capital punishment contravenes the principles set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the European Convention on Human Rights and reiterates its appeal to the Japanese authorities to introduce a moratorium on the death penalty as a first step towards its abolition.