Japan | Family of ex-death row inmate seeks answers after authorities black out execution documents

FUKUOKA -- The family of a death row inmate who was executed while he was preparing to request a retrial has filed a civil lawsuit demanding full disclosure of documents relating to the execution, large portions of which the Japanese government blacked out.

The man, Michitoshi Kuma, was convicted of killing two elementary school students in the Fukuoka Prefecture city of Iizuka in 1992, in what came to be known as the Iizuka incident. His death sentence was finalized in 2006 and he was executed two years later at the age of 70. Kuma had protested his innocence and his family is now fighting the government seeking information on his execution, which they say was carried out too soon.

In September 2008 around two years after the death sentence was finalized, lawyers Tsutomu Iwata and Yasuyuki Tokuda met Kuma in a meeting room at Fukuoka Detention House. "If you don't request a retrial soon, the death sentence could be carried out," they warned him. Kuma showed them a list of death row inmates, including himself, with the dates their sentences had been finalized. Names of those already executed were crossed out. "I'm still about in the middle, so it's OK. There's still time so please proceed with the retrial request," Kuma said before leaving the meeting room.

However, only about a month later, on Oct. 28, 2008, he was executed.

The Code of Criminal Procedures stipulates that executions must be carried out within six months after the death penalty is finalized. But according to the Ministry of Justice and other sources, over the period from 2014 to 2023, the average time from the finalization of the sentence to execution was around nine years. Among the currently incarcerated inmates there is a case when the execution has been stayed for over 50 years.

The execution of Kuma, in comparison, was quick, being carried out after roughly two years and one month. Lawyer Iwata recalls, "At the time, the government was avoiding executing inmates when they were seeking retrials. Detention facility workers were present at the meeting, so the Ministry of Justice must have been aware of the details. Why, then, was the execution carried out so quickly?"

In January 2022, Kuma's bereaved family requested the disclosure of documents relating to the execution process. About two months later, the government released some documents, including a "Death penalty execution petition" addressed from the superintending prosecutor of the Fukuoka High Public Prosecutors Office to the minister of justice, an internal Ministry of Justice decision document titled "Regarding execution of the death penalty" and a "Death penalty execution report."

The documents show that the superintending prosecutor filed a petition for Kuma's execution to the justice minister on Feb. 7, 2007, about four months after his sentence was confirmed. On Oct. 24, 2008, the Ministry of Justice's Criminal Affairs Bureau drafted the execution, which was approved by 13 ministry officials. The minister of justice at the time then ordered the superintending prosecutor to carry out the execution, with the directive "Carry it out as per the court's ruling."

However, other parts of the documents were mostly blacked out. The document titled "Regarding execution of the death penalty" is said to have contained concrete deliberations on the appropriateness of the death penalty, but about nine relevant pages were totally blacked out.

The "Death penalty execution report," meanwhile, is believed to contain a chronological record of the procedures on the day of the execution and the condition of the former death row inmate, but that part too, was blacked out. The reason for this was said to be that those parts constituted "information where it is possible to identify a specific individual" and "information likely to cause impediments to the execution of punishment," which are subject to nondisclosure under Japan's information disclosure law.

Among the many inmates on death row, why was Kuma, who was preparing to request a retrial, chosen at that particular time, and how did he spend his final days? Dissatisfied with the documents full of redactions, Kuma's kin filed a lawsuit in the Fukuoka District Court in October 2023 requesting annulment of the nondisclosure decision. In the lawsuit, the family argues, "Despite being willing to waive our own privacy rights, the information was unilaterally withheld." The family further states the government's act unacceptably went as far as to conceal information that could help restore Kuma's honor, and that the nondisclosure was illegal.

The government, on the other hand, argued that if the process by which officials consider implementation of the death penalty becomes known, then other inmates might imagine that they are next and try to escape or kill themselves. It said all of the blacked-out parts constitute information subject to nondisclosure and is calling for the court to dismiss the family's suit.

Iwata, however, stated, "When the documents are blacked out, there is no way to verify whether execution of the sentence was appropriate. The information should be fully disclosed, not hidden."

Shinichi Ishizuka, a professor emeritus of criminal law at Ryukoku University, who is knowledgeable about Japan's death penalty system, stated, "Shedding light on the execution process is the starting point for discussing the existence of the death penalty system. Withholding information takes away the opportunity for debate, which is unacceptable. In the lawsuit, the question of whether disclosing the information could harm the public interest and the appropriateness of nondisclosure on the grounds of protecting the privacy of the former death row inmate, even when requested by the bereaved family, are likely to emerge as points."

The Iizuka incident

In February 1992, two first-year elementary school girls went missing in Iizuka, Fukuoka Prefecture. They were later found dead in the mountains of the prefectural city of Amagi (present-day Asakura). In September 1994, police arrested Michitoshi Kuma, who lived within the school zone. He consistently maintained his innocence, but he was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. His death sentence was finalized in 2006 and he was executed in 2008. According to the confirmed ruling, Kuma was convicted of abducting the two girls between about 8:30 and 8:50 a.m. Feb. 20, 1992 near a three-way intersection in Iizuka, strangling them by around 9 a.m., and disposing of their bodies in the mountains of Amagi around 11 a.m.

Source: mainichi.jp, Kazuya Shimura, Kyushu News Department, January 19, 2025

_____________________________________________________________________

Twitter/X | Instagram | Telegram | Contact Us

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

Comments

I watched Ohio's last execution. Here's what it was like

As Gov. DeWine calls for Ohio to end capital punishment, the state’s last execution remains the one I witnessed in 2018 Inside Ohio's death house, there is a room for executions and separate witness rooms: one for those connected to the victim and another for those connected to the inmate. Windows separate the death chamber from those watching, the condemned from the living. I was there on July 18, 2018 – during Ohio’s most recent execution. Robert Van Hook was put to death that day for killing David Self in 1985. He sat on death row for three decades. I was one of three media witnesses to the execution.

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.

Gov. Mike DeWine calls for Ohio to abolish the death penalty

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Gov. Mike DeWine Tuesday morning called on Ohio to abolish the death penalty, citing data that he said proves it is no longer a deterrent to violent crime. “For the state to take a human life, there must, in my opinion, there must be evidence that in doing so it will help protect the public, that the threat of that action will deter someone from committing murder,” DeWine said. “I do not believe that argument today can be successfully made.” DeWine cited data showing a decline in the last four decades of executions being carried out and an increase in the time inmates spend on death row.

Japan’s Internet Wants Uchida Riko Executed. Here’s Why That Won’t Happen

This week, the prosecution in the case of a murder of a 17-year-old girl in Hokkaido came out with its sentencing recommendation. Japanese social media reacted by clamoring for the accused woman’s blood. But, while the facts of the case are heinous, the prosecutor’s decision not to seek the death penalty is grounded in long-standing precedent. Murdered for looking at the accused wrong Uchida Riko (内田梨瑚), 23, and her friends stand accused of murdering 17-year-old Murayama Runa (村山瑠奈) in Hokkaido’s Asahikawa. Prosecutors say the dispute began after Murayama posted a photo of Uchida to social media. They say Uchida’s group abducted the girl, made her undress, and then forced her to jump from a bridge.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog