05/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - Catherine Ashton deplores resumption of executions. On 29 March, the high representative of the EU for foreign affairs spoke out against the fact that executions have resumed in Japan, where the death penalty had not been applied for 20 months, with the executions on the same day of Yasuaki Uwabe, Tomoyuki Furusawa and Yasutoshi Matsuda. Stressing that the EU and Japan have very similar views on many concerns regarding human rights issues in the world, Catherine Ashton said that the EU has called on the Japanese authorities to institute a moratorium on the application of the death penalty, pending its full abolition in law. She reiterated that the EU is opposed to the application of the death penalty, which it regards as a "cruel and inhuman punishment" and calls for its universal abolition, which is "essential for the protection of human dignity". The executions of the three men found guilty of a number of murders between 1999 and 2001 were the first in the country since 28 July 2010. (CG/transl.fl)