Japan hangs 2 death row inmates, 1st executions under DPJ+

TOKYO, July 28 Kyodo -
Japan hanged two death row inmates Wednesday in the first executions under the
Democratic Party of Japan-led government launched last September, Justice
Minister Keiko Chiba said.
In an unusual move, Chiba herself attended the executions of Kazuo Shinozawa,
59, and Hidenori Ogata, 33, at the Tokyo Detention House, saying at a press
conference, ''I attended the executions today as I believe it is my duty to see
(the process) through as the person who orders it.''
Despite criticism from various quarters about Chiba's order, Prime Minister
Naoto Kan said he believes Chiba made the right decision on the executions of
two death row inmates.
''I believe she has made appropriate judgments in line with the law as a
justice minister,'' Kan told reporters in the evening, when asked about the
first executions.
Chiba, who was a former member of the Japan Parliamentary League against the
Death Penalty until she became the justice minister, had held a cautious stance
on executions.
When she assumed the ministerial post last September, she told a press
conference, ''The death penalty involves a person's life, so I will cautiously
handle (the cases) based on the duties of the justice minister.''
While declining to comment on her personal views over executions, on the latest
executions, Chiba said, ''I closely examined (the cases) and ordered it...I
have felt anew the need to fundamentally discuss the issue of capital
punishment.''
Japan is one of the few advanced countries that still have the death penalty.
According to Amnesty International, 139 countries, or more than two-thirds of
them, have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice so far.
The minister attended the executions of Shinozawa, who was convicted of murder
for setting fire to a jewelry store in 2000, in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture,
in which six female clerks were burned to death, as well as Ogata, who killed a
man and woman and seriously injuring two others in Saitama Prefecture in 2003.
It is believed to be the first time a justice minister has attended an
execution, according to the Justice Ministry.
In a bid to stir public debate over the death penalty, Justice Minister Chiba
also said she has instructed the detention facility in Tokyo to allow the news
media to visit the death chamber, while ordering the Justice Ministry to
establish a panel to study capital punishment.
Death chambers in Japan have been closed to the media, as well as to the public
so far. However, Chiba said media coverage ''will contribute to public debate
over the death penalty.''
Chiba also said that while the panel, to be set up under the justice minister,
will consist of ministry officials, who will discuss the system involving the
death penalty, including whether it should be maintained or abolished, she
hopes to ''hear what outside experts have to say in open discussions.''
The content of the debate will be open to the public in order to enable people
to discuss the issue more deeply, as private citizens have become involved in
criminal court proceedings under the lay judge system, she added.
The last time the government executed death row inmates was July 28 last year,
when the Liberal Democratic Party was in power and hanged three inmates. The
latest executions bring the total number of death row inmates to 107 in Japan.
Chiba may be replaced soon, as she lost her parliamentary seat in the House of
Councillors election earlier this month.
Some lawmakers from the opposition as well as the ruling bloc have expressed
criticism over the execution order issued by a civilian justice minister, but
Chiba said she had considered it before the upper house election and ordered
the hanging of the two inmates ''as a result of it.''
Meanwhile, DPJ Secretary General Yukio Edano told reporters he has heard that
Chiba signed the execution order Saturday, one day before her term as an upper
house member expired on Sunday.
Amnesty International Japan issued a statement condemning the executions, which
noted, ''The information disclosure over the death penalty and public debate on
whether to maintain or abolish it should be implemented with executions
suspended.''
''It is contradictory to execute someone while proposing public debate on it,''
the human rights group said in the statement.
In October 2008, the Geneva-based Human Rights Committee urged Japan to
consider termination of the death penalty regardless of domestic public opinion
that favors its maintenance, saying in a report, ''Regardless of opinion polls,
the state party (Japan) should favorably consider abolishing the death penalty
and inform the public, as necessary, about the desirability of abolition.''
However, a Japanese government survey showed in February that a record 85.6
percent of respondents said that continuing capital punishment is
''unavoidable.''
==Kyodo
2010-07-28 23:29:29


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