JAPAN: Government allows media glimpse into execution chamber as the public debate over abolishment of the death penalty intensifies

Record ID: 469531

  • Title: JAPAN: Government allows media glimpse into execution chamber as the public debate over abolishment of the death penalty intensifies
  • Date: 28th August 2010
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF OSAMU AMANO, CAMPAIGNER AT AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL JAPAN TO ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY, SEATED FOR INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) CAMPAIGNER AT AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL JAPAN TO ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY, OSAMU AMANO, SAYING: "Regretfully, Japan is being adamant in executing the death penalty while many Asian countries are moving towards a
  • Embargoed: 12th September 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA9P6GDZE8SYS76MZZXK1XFQ657
  • Story Text: Japan opened up its gallows for the first time to domestic media on Friday (August 27), a move that could spark public debate over executions in a country where a hefty majority supports retaining the death penalty.
    Inside the Tokyo Detention House media captured the trap door, the viewing room and rooms where the inmate can meet with a cleric, with a Buddhist altar and a Buddha statue. The trap door was closed and the rope was not exhibited.
    Also unveiled was the "button room", where three prison officers press a button at the same time to open the trap door so that it is not clear which button opened the door.
    Justice Minister Keiko Chiba, a known opponent of capital punishment, signed off on the executions of two convicted killers and attended their hangings last month. She set up a group within the ministry to study the death penalty.
    "I wanted to provide information on the death penalty to encourage public debate on the issue and clarify various consequences that it can cause," Chiba told a news conference on Friday.
    Japan, along with the United States, is one of only two Group of Eight (G-8) rich countries that retain capital punishment. It currently has 107 inmates on death row. Neighbour South Korea has not been executing the death penalty for 12 years.
    "Regretfully, Japan is being adamant in executing the death penalty while many Asian countries are moving towards abolishing it. What Japan should do is accept the global momentum toward abolishing the death penalty and actively debate over the issue, referring to the cases in other Asian countries," said Osamu Amano, a campaigner at Amnesty International Japan to abolish the death penalty.
    However, an overwhelming majority of Japanese supports the death penalty in Japan.
    Last year, 86 percent said in a government survey retaining the death penalty was unavoidable, up from 80 percent in 1999, though a recent NHK public TV survey put support at 57 percent.
    "To keep it or not is up to the country itself and should not be influenced by other countries," Toshio Hiramatsu, a 45-year-old administration worker at a university told Reuters.
    Fumiko Yajima, a 60-year-old mother of three sons and four grandchildren, also backed the argument that the extreme punishment is still an inevitable measure.
    "If my children are killed by a criminal, I'd clearly say I want a death punishment for him," said Yajima.
    "Even though the criminal survives, I don't want him to repent and eventually return to society," said Masao Sumita, a 33-year-old public worker.
    Japan has been criticised by the United Nations (UN) Committee Against Torture and opponents of the death penalty over the secrecy of its execution system and the psychological strain it puts on inmates and their families.
    Inmates are notified on the morning of the execution, usually about an hour beforehand, and families of inmates are given no advance notification, experts say.
    Experts also say they are concerned over how little the public knows about the death penalty despite a new lay judge system from last year under which ordinary citizens, along with judges, could hand down such sentences.
    The Justice Ministry in 2007 started releasing the names and crimes of inmates sentenced to death. Details on executions had previously been strictly limited and opponents of the death penalty say the ministry still restricts information.
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