Renewed momentum for abolition: a look back at the 5th Regional Congress in Tokyo
Asia
From 7 to 9 November 2025, Tokyo hosted the 5th Regional Congress on the Death Penalty in East Asia, organized by ECPM (Ensemble contre la peine de mort/ Together Against the Death Penalty), in partnership with the Centre for Prisoners’ Rights (CPR), the Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA) and the Asian Death Penalty Abolition Network (ADPAN).
More than 300 participants—lawyers, parliamentarians, representatives of the United Nations, NGOs and former death row inmates—from Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Mongolia, Malaysia and other countries gathered at Rissho University for a rich and engaging dialogue on the future of the death penalty in the region.
Discussion on women sentenced to death in Asia on the sidelines of the Congress
On the sidelines of the Congress, an event was organized by the World Coalition, in collaboration with the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide and CPR Japan, on gender and the death penalty. The discussions provided an overview of the reality of women sentenced to death in East Asia and highlighted the good practices and main challenges of organizations working with and for these women. Participants discussed the recognition of gender-related mitigating circumstances, as well as the importance of listening to and valuing life stories, while taking into account limited resources. Good practices identified include collaboration with women’s rights organizations, the active inclusion of people with lived experience, and the development of gender-sensitive sentencing guidelines.
The death penalty in South-East Asia: between regression and progress
During the Congress, it was announced that as of January 2025, fourteen countries in Asia have abolished the death penalty for all crimes, one country has abolished it for ordinary crimes, six are under moratorium and twenty-eight remained retentionist. Asia remains the continent with the highest number of executions, led by China, whose statistics remain confidential. In 2024, only China and North Korea carried out executions in East Asia. However, in 2025 Taiwan resumed executions in January 2025 after a five-year hiatus, and Japan carried out an execution in June after a three-year moratorium. Clearly, despite progress in some countries, the use of the death penalty remains widespread and opaque in the broader region, and only reinforces the need for international cooperation and dialogue.
The Tokyo Congress highlighted the faces and stories behind these statistics. The debates focused on transparency, judicial reform and regional cooperation, which are crucial issues for a region still heavily marked by the death penalty. Participants emphasized the importance of building a positive narrative, promoting human stories to raise public awareness, supporting the mental health of rights defenders, families and former prisoners, and encouraging youth initiatives. The Congress also celebrated the next generation of abolitionists during the public speaking competition “How to abolish the death penalty in Japan?”, won by law student Sorane Sakihama.
Towards the 2026 World Congress
The Tokyo Regional Congress is a strategic step towards the 9th World Congress Against the Death Penalty, to be held in Paris from 30 June to 2 July 2026. Participants are leaving with a clear plan: to insist on transparency, promote human stories and nurture a strong interdisciplinary network in order to bring the abolitionist voice to governments and institutions.
