The Regional Congresses : Major Steps Before the World Congresses
Each World Congress is preceded by a Regional Congress and provides an opportunity to address the issue of the death penalty and its abolition at the local level. Despite a global trend towards universal abolition, some geographical areas remain a challenge, including East Asia.
In November 2025, the ECPM team and its partners will focus their efforts in Tokyo, Japan, from 7 to 9 November 2025, at Rissho University. The aim is to bring together civil society actors, members of the diplomatic corps, the press and magistrates to build dialogue and a common strategy towards abolition.
In Japan, those on death row live in permanent fear and isolation, often for decades, without knowing when their execution will come. This silence and secrecy are themselves a form of inhuman treatment. By bringing their voices to Tokyo, we want this Congress to highlight the human reality behind capital punishment and to show that change is both necessary and possible.
Yuichi Kaidō, President of the Center for Prisoners’ Rights (CPR)
Holding this Congress in Tokyo is highly symbolic. Japan is one of the very few democracies in the world that retains the death penalty, but it is also a country where the legal community, civil society, and emblematic cases are beginning to question its legitimacy. By opening dialogue here, alongside our partners from across East Asia, we aim to build momentum for a future without executions.
Raphaël Chenuil-Hazan, Executive Director of ECPM
Japan and East Asia : Between Retention and Signs of Change
Until now, Japan retains and enforces the death penalty. Executions are carried out in secrecy, with prisoners notified only a few hours beforehand. Despite public opinion still largely in favour of capital punishment, recent emblematic cases, such as the acquittal of Iwao Hakamata in 2024 after 46 years on death row, have opened new debates about the risks of wrongful convictions and the human cost of executions. Hakamata’ sister, Hideko, will attend the Congress.
While the trend towards abolishing of the death penalty is fairly consistent in some parts of the globe – particularly in Africa, with, in average, 1 abolition per year for the past 5 years – Asia still remains the continent with the highest rate of executions worldwide. As of January 1, 2025, 14 countries in Asia had abolished the death penalty for all crimes, 1 for ordinary crimes, 6 were under a moratorium on executions, and 28 were retentionist.
In contrast, positive steps occured : Mongolia abolished the death penalty in 2015, Malaysia ended the mandatory death penalty in 2023, and in Taiwan, a recent constitutional review opened debate on its safeguards.
Despite these positive steps forward, the situation regarding the death penalty remains very complex in certain states. This is particularly true in China and North Korea, where access to official information on sentences and executions is difficult. Both countries carried out executions in 2024. Finally, in January 2025, Taiwan carried out its first execution in five years, while Japan resumed executions in June, the first in three years.
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