The Delegation of the European Union (EU) issues the following statement, together with the diplomatic missions of the EU Member States and the diplomatic missions of Iceland, Norway and Switzerland in Japan:

“The EU Delegation and the diplomatic missions of the EU Member States and of Iceland, Norway and Switzerland deplore the execution of Takahiro Shiraishi on 27 June 2025. It is the first execution by the current government, in office since November 2024, after a roughly three-year period since July 2022 during which no executions took place.

In keeping with our consistent strong and principled position against the death penalty, we oppose the use of capital punishment in all cases and in all circumstances, and continue our active pursuit of its abolition worldwide. The use of the death penalty is incompatible with the inalienable right to life and the right to live free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment. Capital punishment also fails to act as a deterrent to crime and makes possible miscarriages of justice irreversible. Moreover, rehabilitation as an objective of modern criminal law is rendered impossible by the application of capital punishment.

Today, more than two-thirds of the countries of the world have become abolitionist in law or practice, which confirms a global trend in favour of the abolition of the death penalty.

Therefore, the EU Delegation and the diplomatic missions of the EU Member States and of Iceland, Norway and Switzerland repeat our call to the Japanese authorities to adopt a moratorium on executions as a positive first step towards its abolition.

Furthermore, alongside like-minded organisations and individuals in Japan and elsewhere, we call for an urgent and thorough review of capital punishment within the criminal justice system, and call on Japanese authorities to promote a wide public debate on this issue, based on objective and unbiased data.

We will continue to work for the abolition of the death penalty in the few remaining countries that still apply it”.