Source: News.com.au
http://www.news.com.au/world/asia/japan-executions-inside-the-secretive-efficient-death-chambers/news-story/e650b790265fcf2dafc2f8ba9fa1e52f
THERE are polished floors, clean surroundings and symbolic statues.
But this place is far from peaceful and there’s a reason why it’s known as the Tokyo death house.
This is where Japan hangs its criminals in secrecy so tight that not even the convicted know when their time is up.
Last week’s execution of two convicted murderers has once again cast light on the country’s practice of putting people to death, a method labelled cruel and inhumane by human rights groups.
Nishikawa, 61, was convicted of killing four female bar owners in western Japan in 1991, while Sumida, 34, was sentenced to death for killing a female colleague in 2011 and dismembering her body.
The government remained unrepentant despite calls from activists to stop the hangings.
“Both are extremely cruel cases in which victims were deprived of their precious lives on truly selfish motives,” Justice Minister Katsutoshi Kaneda said.
“I ordered the executions after careful consideration.”
INSIDE CHAMBER OF DEATH
Japan remains notoriously secret about its use of the death penalty, with the US the only other major developed country which carries out capital punishment.
In Japan, most prisoners wait years for their fate to be carried out.
In 2010 the media was given a rare glimpse into the execution chamber in Tokyo where the condemned are put to death.
Prisoners are kept in isolation and have access to a priest before they die.
A statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy, is in a nearby room, just metres from where prisoners will take their last breath.
They are then led into the chamber and a noose is put around their neck while red boxes around a trapdoor indicate where the condemned are to stand.
In the room next door, three executioners have access to the trap door which will give way once the buttons are pressed.
JAPAN’S SHAME
Human rights group Amnesty International called Japan’s use of the death penalty inhumane and said it showed “wanton disregard for the right to life.”
“The death penalty never delivers justice, it is the ultimate cruel and inhumane punishment,” Hiroka Shoji, East Asia researcher at the campaign group, said in a statement last week.
“Executions in Japan remain shrouded in secrecy but the government cannot hide the fact that it is on the wrong side of history, as the majority of the world’s states have turned away from the death penalty.”
The two men’s deaths bring to 19 the number of people executed in Japan since 2012, with 124 remaining on death row, Amnesty said.
The human rights group also said prisoners were often only given a few hours notice with lawyers and family only notified after it had taken place.
“Secret executions are in contravention of international standards on the use of the death penalty,” Amnesty said.
Nishikawa was hanged while seeking a retrial. But Mr Kaneda indicated it was mistaken to believe that death-row inmates cannot be executed as long as their retrial pleas are pending.
INNOCENT VICTIM
While the two men last week were convicted of murder, not everyone on death row is actually guilty.
In 2014 Iwao Hakamada was released after 45 years on death row after being convicted on falsified evidence.
The former boxer had confessed to murdering four people in 1966 but retracted his statement shortly after.
Once released he said he was coerced into confessing the crime.
Prosecutors claimed the case against Hakamada rested on bloodstained pyjamas. But instead of presenting the pyjamas at the trial they found five other pieces of clothing, each with blood on them, at his workplace.
A court found that a DNA analysis obtained by Hakamada’s lawyers suggested that investigators had fabricated evidence and he was eventually freed.
debra.killalea@news.com.au
THERE are polished floors, clean surroundings and symbolic statues.
But this place is far from peaceful and there’s a reason why it’s known as the Tokyo death house.
This is where Japan hangs its criminals in secrecy so tight that not even the convicted know when their time is up.
Last week’s execution of two convicted murderers has once again cast light on the country’s practice of putting people to death, a method labelled cruel and inhumane by human rights groups.
Nishikawa, 61, was convicted of killing four female bar owners in western Japan in 1991, while Sumida, 34, was sentenced to death for killing a female colleague in 2011 and dismembering her body.
The government remained unrepentant despite calls from activists to stop the hangings.
“Both are extremely cruel cases in which victims were deprived of their precious lives on truly selfish motives,” Justice Minister Katsutoshi Kaneda said.
“I ordered the executions after careful consideration.”
INSIDE CHAMBER OF DEATH
Japan remains notoriously secret about its use of the death penalty, with the US the only other major developed country which carries out capital punishment.
In Japan, most prisoners wait years for their fate to be carried out.
In 2010 the media was given a rare glimpse into the execution chamber in Tokyo where the condemned are put to death.
Prisoners are kept in isolation and have access to a priest before they die.
A statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy, is in a nearby room, just metres from where prisoners will take their last breath.
They are then led into the chamber and a noose is put around their neck while red boxes around a trapdoor indicate where the condemned are to stand.
In the room next door, three executioners have access to the trap door which will give way once the buttons are pressed.
JAPAN’S SHAME
Human rights group Amnesty International called Japan’s use of the death penalty inhumane and said it showed “wanton disregard for the right to life.”
“The death penalty never delivers justice, it is the ultimate cruel and inhumane punishment,” Hiroka Shoji, East Asia researcher at the campaign group, said in a statement last week.
“Executions in Japan remain shrouded in secrecy but the government cannot hide the fact that it is on the wrong side of history, as the majority of the world’s states have turned away from the death penalty.”
The two men’s deaths bring to 19 the number of people executed in Japan since 2012, with 124 remaining on death row, Amnesty said.
The human rights group also said prisoners were often only given a few hours notice with lawyers and family only notified after it had taken place.
“Secret executions are in contravention of international standards on the use of the death penalty,” Amnesty said.
Nishikawa was hanged while seeking a retrial. But Mr Kaneda indicated it was mistaken to believe that death-row inmates cannot be executed as long as their retrial pleas are pending.
INNOCENT VICTIM
While the two men last week were convicted of murder, not everyone on death row is actually guilty.
In 2014 Iwao Hakamada was released after 45 years on death row after being convicted on falsified evidence.
The former boxer had confessed to murdering four people in 1966 but retracted his statement shortly after.
Once released he said he was coerced into confessing the crime.
Prosecutors claimed the case against Hakamada rested on bloodstained pyjamas. But instead of presenting the pyjamas at the trial they found five other pieces of clothing, each with blood on them, at his workplace.
A court found that a DNA analysis obtained by Hakamada’s lawyers suggested that investigators had fabricated evidence and he was eventually freed.
debra.killalea@news.com.au
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment