Justice Minister Toshio Ogawa has canceled plans to set up a discussion panel on capital punishment despite the ruling Democratic Party of Japan's willingness to openly debate the issue, government sources said Saturday.
The panel would have invited input from experts on all sides of the emotive issue, and Ogawa's decision to curtail the opportunity for debate, including on the suspension of executions, immediately drew fire from death penalty critics.
"It is left up to the personal creed of a justice minister whether to debate capital punishment. The DPJ cannot avoid blame for its irresponsibility as a ruling party," said Hideki Wakabayashi, an official at Amnesty International Japan.
Ogawa has already terminated the ministry's own study panel on the death penalty, and on Thursday approved the hangings of three death row inmates.
The executions were the first since former Justice Minister Keiko Chiba sent two prisoners to the gallows in July 2010.
According to the sources, Ogawa's predecessor, Hideo Hiraoka, was hoping that the envisioned panel of experts would supplement the ministry's study panel, and asked Ogawa to consider the plan when he handed over his ministerial duties in January.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, meanwhile, told a news conference Friday he has no plans to do away with capital punishment.
"Taking into consideration a situation where the number of heinous crimes has not decreased, I find it difficult to do away with the death penalty immediately," he said. "I have no plans to abolish it."
He also pointed out that 85.6 percent of citizens polled by the Cabinet Office in December 2009 said capital punishment is unavoidable in some cases.
"We must carefully weigh the nature of the death penalty from various standpoints, while paying sufficient attention to public opinion," Noda said.