UN urges Japan to ban corporal punishment at home

Feb 08 (NHK) - A UN committee has urged the Japanese government to legally ban corporal punishment of children at home.

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child assesses countries' human rights situations based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The committee held a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on Thursday, releasing the results of its review of conditions in Japan.

The committee said Japanese law does not completely prohibit corporal punishment of children at home.

It added corporal punishment must be clearly and completely banned, however light a form it takes.

A reporter sought committee opinions about a case in Japan involving a 10-year-old girl who died recently as a result of alleged abuse by her father.

One of the committee members said the girl must have asked many adults for help but no one tried to protect her. The expert added the tragedy must never be repeated.

More than 50 countries, mainly in Northern Europe and Africa, have laws that ban corporal punishment. A growing number of other nations are moving to introduce such legislation, including France.

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