JAPAN. LAWMAKERS PROPOSE ALTERNATIVE TO DEATH PENALTY

December 6, 2005: Japanese lawmakers opposed to the death penalty said they would propose mandatory life in prison for capital cases in a bid to dent overwhelming public support for capital punishment.
"If lawmakers propose lifetime imprisonment as an alternative to the death penalty, the Japanese public is not likely to reject it," Shizuka Kamei, head of a group of 100 lawmakers opposed to the death penalty, told an international conference in Tokyo on capital punishment.
The latest government poll had found that more than 80 percent of Japanese supported the death penalty and a mere six percent were opposed.
But Kamei said that opinions would change if there were a true debate.
"If simply asked whether a person who committed an atrocious crime should be executed, it is natural to say yes," Kamei said. "But there are cases in which criminals can be transformed into Buddha-like people who feel deep regret."
Kamei, a former top police investigator, said he opposed the death penalty because of the possibility of executing innocent people. (Sources: Agence France Presse, 06/12/2005)