日本の死刑宣告増加

CCNより抜粋。12月31日の記事。
Japanese courts sentenced 44 people to death in 2006, the largest number in at least 26 years, amid a toughening of sentences for violent crimes, a news report said Sunday.

The 44 death sentences were the most since at least 1980 -- the earliest year for which statistics were available -- and brought the total number of people on Japan's death row to 94, the Nihon Keizai newspaper said.

It said it compiled the numbers from the nation's Supreme Court, regional high courts and district courts, as well as Ministry of Justice statistics.

The higher number of capital sentences appeared to be due to a toughening of sentences out of consideration for the victims of violent crimes and their families, the Nihon Keizai said. A spate of such crimes from 2000 to 2004 also appeared to be a factor, it said.

Violent crimes are relatively rare in Japan, which has one of the lowest crime rates among advanced nations. However, crime has risen steadily in recent years as the country has struggled to recover from an economic slowdown.

Executions, conducted by hanging, are also relatively rare. The government is extremely secretive about the death penalty and tends to carry out hangings without prior notice and when Parliament is not in session. Four men were executed on Christmas Day.

The government lifted a four-year moratorium on capital punishment in 1993. Until 1998, it refused to publicly acknowledge executions.

Japan is one of the few major industrialized countries which retains the death penalty.

Phones rang unanswered Sunday at the Justice Ministry.

---
最後の１行は何が言いたいのだろう。