The government is hoping to mandate life imprisonment as the maximum penalty for the use of biological weapons under its proposed legislation to ratify the U.N. convention on terrorist attacks, according to government sources.
Ratification of the convention requires that a government establish domestic laws to make it a crime to place lethal devices such as toxic chemical weapons and biological agents in public places, and that these laws set provisions on penalties and extradition of perpetrators.
The government hopes the Diet will approve Japan's ratification of the convention during the current session after the Cabinet approves the bill on Oct. 30, the sources said Tuesday.
Under the bill, the use of biological and toxic weapons would carry a prison term of two years to life, or up to 10 million yen in fines. Dispersing biological agents or toxic substances would carry imprisonment of up to 10 years or a fine of up to 3 million yen.
The convention was adopted at the U.N. General Assembly in 1997, following a series of terrorist attacks, including the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York. Japan signed the pact in April 1998.
Given the need to step up antiterrorism measures, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has instructed government officials to accelerate their efforts to ratify the pact.