Statement Strongly Protesting Today’s Executions and Calling for an Immediate Moratorium and the Abolition of the Death Penalty by 2020
Today, a total of six capital inmates were executed: three at the Tokyo Detention House, two at the Nagoya Detention House, and one at the Sendai Detention House, even though some of them were in the midst of applying for retrials. The fact of an execution having been conducted and the numbers of persons executed have been made public since November 1998, but today’s executions have once again been made in a staggeringly large number following that of the seven inmates executed on the on July 6. This marked the third occasion on which the current Minister of Justice, Yoko Kamikawa, has given the order to perform executions since she took office in August 2017, while also being the 14th time that executions have been carried out under the second Abe Administration. The total number of executions during that time has now reached 34.
The JFBA adopted its “Declaration Calling for Reform of the Penal System Including Abolition of the Death Penalty” during the 59th JFBA Convention on the Protection of Human Rights on October 7, 2016, and has called on the Japanese government to aim for the abolition of the death penalty by 2020 when Japan hosts the UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (the “Congress”).
A life taken by crime can never be brought back, and such crime should never be tolerated and it is quite understandable for bereaved family members to seek harsh punishment against the offender. Society as a whole is under a moral obligation to render sufficient support to victims of crime and their family members who have had to endure this most painful experience.
On the other hand, however, it is important to note that the penal system should serve not only the purpose of achieving retribution for crimes, but also rehabilitation of offenders, which will aid in the prevention of recidivism and consequently lead to the achievement of increased safety throughout society as a whole. To this end, the penal system (particularly the death penalty) should be reviewed in its entirety. From this aspect of the total reform of the penal system, we must never fail to take note of the fact that capital punishment allows and empowers the state to deprive people of the right to life, which is at the core of fundamental human rights, as proclaimed in Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
In Japan, there were four cases of exonerations in the 1980s wherein the defendants’ finalized death sentences were overturned after retrial. These cases serve as an important reminder that the risks of wrongful conviction and miscarriages of justice are very possible and real. In addition, there is another death-penalty case, referred to as the Hakamada case, for which the JFBA is assisting in seeking a retrial. This case also involves the possibility of a false accusation, and the proceedings for retrial are currently ongoing.
For those facing the death penalty, the rights to counsel and defense should be sufficiently guaranteed throughout all stages of criminal procedures before the execution is carried out. The execution of death row inmates in the retrial process is also problematic from this perspective.
An opinion poll conducted by the Cabinet Office in November 2014 revealed that 80.3% of respondents replied that the “death penalty was unavoidable.” However, among such respondents, 40.5% said, in response to an additional question, that “the death penalty could be abolished in the future if the situation changes.” With regard to the question of whether or not the death penalty should be abolished in the case where the penalty of life imprisonment without parole was introduced, 37.7% of all respondents said that the death penalty should be abolished. This suggests that the situation where the death penalty is retained on the grounds of the support by a large majority of the public could be changed under conditions wherein sufficient information about the death penalty is given and alternatives to the death penalty are in place.
As of December 2017, more than two-thirds of the nations in the world have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. Among the member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), only three countries retain the death penalty, namely, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United States (USA), among which only Japan retains the death penalty in law and practice as state policy.
There is a strong trend towards abolition of the death penalty in the international community. Only a small number of nations still retain the death penalty and actually carry out executions. In this regard, Japan has been continuously subject to various recommendations by the UN Human Rights Committee, the UN Committee Against Torture, and the UN Human Rights Council, to cease executions and to favorably consider abolishing the death penalty.
Furthermore, in the purpose and general principles of the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) between Japan and the EU and its member states signed on July 17, 2018, the parties state their desire to “contribute jointly to the promotion of shared values and principles, in particular democracy, the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms”. The EU expressly opposes and is working toward the abolition of the death penalty. In the case where Japan continues to carry out executions, the EU and its member states will surely be concerned about whether or not both parties truly share the said common values and principles of human rights and fundamental freedom. In fact, immediately after the executions conducted on July 6 this year, statements calling for the abolition of the death penalty were issued not only in the joint names of the EU Delegation and Ambassadors to Japan of the EU member states, but also by the German Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid, the French Ambassador and others.
Amid growing international attention being paid to Japan looking ahead to the Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games and the Congress to be held in Japan in 2020, the Japanese government should take into consideration the detrimental impact on Japan’s international reputation which may be brought by carrying out such executions.
It is necessary for the Japanese government to accept that the death penalty is a punishment constituting a violation of the right to life guaranteed in the Constitution, and that it is also problematic in terms of international law. Through this statement, the JFBA hereby strongly protests the executions conducted today, and reiterates its stance that the government should immediately suspend all executions, looking towards the total abolition of the death penalty system in Japan by 2020.
July 26, 2018
Yutaro Kikuchi
President
Japan Federation of Bar Associations
