Lawmakers Approve Prison Reform
From Times Wire Reports
Japan’s upper house approved a law to improve notoriously harsh prison conditions, giving inmates more contact with the outside world. The legislation, approved by the more powerful lower house last month, is expected to replace the 1908 Prison Law next year.
The change follows a high-profile 2002 case in which a 43-year-old inmate died at central Japan’s Nagoya Prison after guards allegedly assaulted him.
Human rights activists say Japanese prisons violate U.N. conventions against torture.
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