Japan: A call for death penalty debate

Keiko Chiba

Until July 28, no executions had been carried out for a year in Japan, with death row convicts numbering a record 109. On that day, 2 inmates were hanged in the Tokyo Detention House.

Justice Minister Keiko Chiba, a human rights lawyer who used to be a member of a Diet members' league for the abolition of the death penalty, ordered the executions. Moreover, she witnessed them — probably the first justice minister to do so.

Torn apart between her personal belief and duty as justice minister, Ms. Chiba must have had a hard time. After the executions, she said, "(Seeing the executions) forced me to think deeply again about the death penalty." She said she will set up in her ministry a panel to discuss the death penalty, including whether it should be continued, and open the gallows at the detention house to mass media coverage.

Because capital punishment in Japan has been veiled in secrecy, wide public discussions are needed. The Justice Ministry started announcing executions and the number of inmates executed as late as November 1998, followed by the names of inmates executed and the places where the executions took place in December 2007.

Already 139 countries have abolished the death penalty or suspended executions for a long time. Japan is among the 57 countries that maintain capital punishment. The panel must get and disclose concrete information on the relationship between the existence or nonexistence of the death penalty and the occurrence of serious crimes.

In a December 2009 government poll, 86 percent of those surveyed supported capital punishment. With the lay judge system in place, the possibility cannot be ruled out that citizens have to hand down death sentences.

It is all the more important that full information be provided to citizens about capital punishment and that they develop well-informed opinions. The panel should include people from outside the Justice Ministry and should take into account the opinions and feelings of death row inmates. Ms. Chiba should consider calls from various groups for suspending executions while the panel's discussions are going on.

Source: Editorial, Japan Times, July 31, 2010

Chiba persuaded to carry out her 'duty'

Justice Minister Keiko Chiba surprised the nation by ordering 2 executions, apparently after ministry officials persuaded her to fulfill her duty by citing a Cabinet survey that showed support for the death penalty in excess of 85 %.

Chiba, an opponent of capital punishment, attended the executions Wednesday at the Tokyo Detention House. Afterward, she announced plans for a study group to discuss capital punishment and to allow the media to see inside execution chambers.

Early Wednesday morning, Chiba went straight from her home in Yokohama to the detention center. Though usually clad in bright pinks and greens, Chiba wore a gray suit on the day.

Tokyo Detention Center

The execution chamber in the Tokyo Detention House is a 2-story facility. After being informed that the sentence will be carried out, the death-row inmate is moved to the execution chamber where the condemned criminal stands on a trapdoor. After having a noose placed around his or her neck, a prison officer pushes a button in an adjacent room and the prisoner falls through the trapdoor.

The inmates executed Wednesday were Kazuo Shinozawa, 59, and Hidenori Ogata, 33.

The ministry's criminal affairs bureau chief, the head of the detention house, and prosecutors and officials from the Tokyo High Prosecutors Office watched the executions with Chiba through a glass wall. The executions were completed by about 10 a.m.

Ministry officials said Chiba appeared tense and pale after returning to the ministry.

According to high-ranking ministry officials, Chiba gradually changed her mind regarding executions, finally deciding to sign the execution orders after being persuaded by ministry officials, who wanted to avoid having zero executions during Chiba's tenure.

A high-ranking ministry official said that this spring, Chiba began to refer to the signing of death penalty orders as "one of the minister's duties."

"The minister might have decided to sign the execution orders before the House of Councillors election. I distributed trial records on the 2 death-row inmates before the election," the official said.

The Justice Ministry explained to Chiba that the public would find it difficult to understand why she keeps avoiding signing execution orders, especially as the lay judge system has forced even ordinary people to make difficult decisions concerning the death penalty.

The ministry official also attributed Chiba's decision to the fact that public support for the death penalty reached a record high of 85.6 percent in a February Cabinet survey.

In the recent election, Chiba lost her Diet seat, and she might have been criticized if she signed an execution order as a private citizen. For this reason, Chiba told the ministry last week that she would sign an execution order and also attend the execution.

On Saturday--one day before Chiba's tenure as a lawmaker expired--she signed the execution orders at her ministry office.

Stressing the need for raising nationwide discussions about capital punishment after being appointed justice minister, Chiba has also said execution chambers should be open to the media. Some ministry officials, however, have expressed concern that merely opening execution chambers to the public, while continuing to delay executions, would send a message that the ministry is going to abolish the death penalty.

Chiba and the ministry finally reached a compromise in that information should be disclosed at the time of an execution.

"While public interest in the country's criminal justice system has been increasing, each person may eventually be asked to shoulder the responsibility of making a decision [on the death penalty]. I'd like to publicize the results of the study group, which I hope will lead to a nationwide discussion of capital punishment," Chiba told reporters.

Concrete plans for the study group and a date for opening execution chambers to the media have yet to be announced.

However, these proposals will surely help expose this country's closed system of capital punishment to public scrutiny, and lead to a new phase of discussions on the issue.

Source: Yomiuri Shimbun, July 31, 2010

Comments

Kansas AG urges governor to deny clemency to 8 sentenced to death

TOPEKA — Attorney General Kris Kobach on Tuesday urged the governor to deny clemency to Kansas inmates who have been sentenced to death. Eight of nine people sentenced to death in Kansas formally filed clemency requests in May, according to a press release from the Attorney General’s Office. Kobach urged Gov. Laura Kelly to reject them.

Idaho will soon turn to firing squad executions. Police will pull the triggers

Trained members of Idaho law enforcement with demonstrated firearms proficiency are expected to fill slots for carrying out the death penalty by firing squad as the state prison system transitions to the controversial execution method next month. Six volunteers certified for no less than three years apiece through Peace Officer Standards and Training, or POST, will be recruited to ensure the Idaho Department of Correction is ready to comply with a state law that prioritizes shooting prisoners to death over lethal injection starting July 1. No one on the team may have faced disciplinary action over firearms, use of force, or related conduct over the prior year, according to new execution protocols the prison system released this week.

SCOTUS: Alabama can’t execute Jeffery Lee by nitrogen; Thursday execution called off

After a week of legal volleyball, Alabama death row inmate Jeffery Lee’s execution—scheduled for Thursday evening—was called off after federal courts called the state’s nitrogen gas execution method “likely unconstitutional.” The state took the fight to the U.S. Supreme Court, hoping Lee could still be put to death tonight. In an order issued at 8:10 p.m., the U.S. Supreme Court ordered that it would not lift a ban on Alabama executing Lee via nitrogen . In a short court order, the justices denied Alabama’s motion to go ahead with the execution. Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch would have granted the appeal and let the execution proceed, according to the order.

Alabama | Judge bars nitrogen gas execution, says method is unconstitutionally cruel

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- A federal judge on Tuesday permanently blocked Alabama from executing an inmate with nitrogen gas after declaring it violates the ban on cruel and unusual punishment. U.S. District Judge Emily Marks issued the ruling hours after an appeals court reversed her initial finding that the method was constitutional. Marks permanently enjoined the state from executing Jeffrey Lee, 49, by nitrogen gas. He was scheduled to be executed Thursday. The decision, for now, blocks the use of the controversial new execution method that the state has championed since 2024, but the issue will likely end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

With nitrogen gas blocked, Alabama seeks to execute inmate by lethal injection

Jeffery Lee, who successfully challenged his scheduled Thursday execution by nitrogen gas, argued that execution by firing squad would be less painful. The Alabama Attorney General’s Office Friday sought to put an Alabama death row inmate to death by lethal injection a day after the U.S. Supreme Court rebuffed the state’s attempt to execute him by nitrogen gas. In a filing with the Alabama Supreme Court Friday afternoon, the state sought an expedited motion to set a new execution date for Jeffery Lee, 49. The state said that with a permanent injunction in place against nitrogen gas, the method by which the state intended to execute Lee on Thursday, it could execute him by lethal injection or the electric chair.

20 Minutes to Death: Witness to the Last Execution in France

The following document is a firsthand account of the final moments of Hamida Djandoubi, a convicted murderer executed by guillotine at Marseille’s Baumettes Prison on September 10, 1977. The record—dated September 9—was written by Monique Mabelly, a judge appointed by the state to witness the proceedings. Djandoubi’s execution would ultimately be the last carried out in France before capital punishment was abolished in 1981. At the time, President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing—who had publicly voiced his "deep aversion to the death penalty" prior to his election—rejected Djandoubi’s appeal for clemency. Choosing to let "justice take its course," the President allowed the execution to proceed, just as he had in two previous cases during his term: Christian Ranucci , executed on July 28, 1976 and Jérôme Carrein , executed on June 23, 1977. Hamida Djandoubi , a Tunisian national, was sentenced to death for killing his former lover, Elisabeth Bousquet. He was execu...

New Mississippi billboard warns criminals: ‘Firing squad is legal’

DESOTO COUNTY, Miss. (WREG) — A billboard standing on Interstate 55 southbound as you cross the Tennessee state line and enter Mississippi from Memphis is sending a grim message to those coming into the state. DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton recently announced the new billboard campaign, which features the sign reading, “WELCOME TO MISSISSIPPI. WHERE THE FIRING SQUAD IS LEGAL. THINK TWICE.” It references Mississippi’s law permitting execution by firing squad under certain circumstances for inmates sentenced to death. Barton says this campaign is aimed at deterring violent crime and sends a direct message to criminals entering Mississippi.

US | Army lays groundwork for death row executions if Trump gives approval

The Army is preparing to carry out the executions of the military's four death-row inmates if ordered to do so by the president, according to an internal planning document reviewed by ABC News. If carried out, it would mark the first time the military executed convicted American inmates in more than a half-century The plan, dubbed "Operation Resolute Justice" and issued internally in February, directs Army officials to coordinate with the Federal Bureau of Prisons to transfer condemned prisoners from the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to the federal execution facility in Terre Haute, Indiana, where the Justice Department carried out a series of non-military federal executions during President Donald Trump's first term.

Thomas, Alito and Gorsuch wanted an execution that a Trump judge deemed illegal

The Supreme Court these days is generally in the business of helping executions go forward. But on Thursday night, the court did something notable: It told Alabama no. Even then, the court wasn't unanimous. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissented from the refusal to let the nitrogen gas execution of Jeffery Lee proceed. What prompted the rare rejection? In line with the typical shadow docket practice, the court didn't explain itself. Nor did the dissenters, who merely noted their disagreement. But a deeper look at the case helps us understand why a majority of the court was unwilling to help the state this time.

Texas | Tanner Horner now incarcerated at the Polunsky Unit

Convicted child killer Tanner Horner has now taken up residence in one of the most brutal death row prisons after being sentenced to die by a Texas jury last month. Horner is incarcerated at the Polunsky Unit, an infamously restrictive prison outside Houston where the state's death row inmates are housed in an all-solitary confinement wing and spend at least 22 hours a day in their 60-square-foot cells. The former FedEx deliveryman, 34, was booked at the notorious prison on May 5 within hours of being sentenced for the gruesome murder of Athena Strand, 7, whom he admitted strangling while delivering a Christmas gift to her home in November 2022.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog