U.N. criticizes several countries, including Japan over death penalty use

Here's hoping that, in the future. the death penalty can be abolished for good. A life does not equal a life.

I will agree to this spokesman's viewpoint as long as the kindhearted man speak same words after his parents, children, wife or best friends were cruelly killed by a merciless man.

What is UN talkin about, what about those kids, children, and the weak died in war what about them, the government, military figure heads or what not should get trialed, not the losing side only. What the UN tryin to say is "murder is a crime but a massacre is not crime and then theft is a crime but pillaging is not a crime." UN and their fake humanist nonsense.Second of all, if some sick homicidal cut throat murders someone, it's ok for them to walk around, nah I don't think so, you spill a blood, you pay with your blood I bet those who say ban the death sentence, wait until your family members gets killed, so what again?

So much nonsense from the UN as usual, if they wanna do somethin about it, then make it universal and fair!!

Any advanced society has legal system that is based on prevention of crime and on protection for the publuc from criminal acts, not on the concept of revenge. The US, Japan and other societies are thus still barbaric and underdeveloped in this sense.

long waits on death row

Wow, I agree with the UN. Let's hurry up the process.

@Per Christer Lund

There was an incident a few years ago on a Spanish Island where a mentally unstable man was walking in the streets with the decapitated head of a human e being. The man was previously put through the all compassionate and oh so 21st century "rehabilitation" treatment of the modernized 1st world admirable European justice system. Even Anders Breivik was given a sentence of 21 yrs and 10 yrs minimum.

Spare us your BS about how Japan and the U.S are somehow barbaric and underdeveloped for allowing the D.P.

What do Carlos de Luna, Larry Griffin, Ruben Cantu, David Spence, Ellis Wayne Felker and Cameron Todd Willingham all have in common? They were all executed for crimes and now are believed to have been innocent and thus wrongly executed. Until the death penalty is used fairly regardless of race or socioeconomic status and there is no room for doubt in any case, it should be shelved.

A life does not equal a life,HMMMMM

I used to be against death penalty. Then I started thinking about the victim's families. While it's only a small step, if an execution is what it takes to make them feel better, they should definitely have this chance.

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

I dare say, nobody has the complete qualifications to talk about the death penalty until one of their loved ones (child, parent, spouse) is savagely murdered. I have the feelings that their views will immediately change afterwards.

The Death Penalty is not a very attractive thing, however you'd be shocked at how much it costs to keep a prisoner incarcerated each year.

From an economic sense, it would be better to implement the death penalty rather than for society to bear the crime, and then support the criminal.

However there are moral and ethical arguments I guess as well as possible mistakes that could be made, etc. that would not allow for a rational application of a cost/benefit analysis of the death penalty.