Japan does not plan to review its death penalty anytime soon, Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa said Friday, despite her orders this month to execute all 13 AUM Shinrikyo cult members on death row sparking international criticism.

"I think capital punishment is unavoidable for those who committed extremely grave and atrocious crimes, and the country's death penalty will not be re-examined immediately," Kamikawa told the press.

(Justice minister Yoko Kamikawa speaks at a press conference on July 26)

All 13 former members of the doomsday cult who had been sitting on death row were executed on two occasions this month on Kamikawa's orders, prompting anti-death penalty campaigners to protest the massive enforcement of capital punishment in a short period of time.

The number of executions carried out under Kamikawa has totaled 16, the highest number ordered by a single justice minister since Japan lifted its 40-month moratorium on capital punishment in 1993.

AUM founder Shoko Asahara and 12 of his former disciples were convicted of involvement in one or more of the following crimes -- a 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, another sarin attack in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, in 1994, and the murders of a lawyer, his wife and their baby son in 1989.


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Following their executions, the German government's human rights commissioner called on the Japanese government to reconsider the practice of carrying out the death penalty.

(AUM founder Shoko Asahara)

"It is an inhuman and cruel form of punishment and I therefore call upon Japan, our close partner, to review its existing practice and refrain from carrying out any further executions," said Baerbel Kofler.

However, Kamikawa said whether or not Japan should abolish its death penalty is an issue "that should be cautiously studied from the perspective of achieving social justice, while fully paying attention to public opinion" on the matter.

The death penalty is strongly supported by the Japanese public. A 2014 government survey revealed 80.3 percent of Japanese people aged 20 or older favored capital punishment, down from a record 85.6 percent in the previous survey in 2009. Only 9.7 percent said the death penalty should be abolished, up 4 points.

Amid increasing international pressure, Japan implemented a moratorium on capital punishment for three years and four months beginning in November 1989 until resuming the practice in March 1993.

According to Amnesty International, 106 countries had abolished the death penalty in law for all crimes and 142 countries had abolished the death penalty in law or practice at the end of 2017.