Subject: [cwj 34] Japan: Secret executions
From: Corporate Watch in Japanese <cwj@corpwatch.org>
Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 21:18:22 -0700
Seq: 34
* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International * Amnesty International public document AI Index ASA 22/003/2000 News Service Nr. 108 6 June 2000 Japan Secret executions Up to nine prisoners under sentence of death may be executed secretly in Japan on or around 9 June, Amnesty International warned today calling on the government to declare an immediate moratorium on all executions. "The prisoners, their lawyers and their families are unable to obtain official confirmation of the names of those scheduled for execution. If the Japanese government is not ashamed of the death penalty, why do they continue to execute in secret?" Amnesty International asked. There are fears that the Minister of Justice could already have signed the order for these executions on 5 June and that they are intended to signal the government is tough on crime ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for 25 June. The Japanese government orders the executions of prisoners every summer and winter, when the Diet (parliament) is in recess to avoid public and parliamentary reactions to the use of the death penalty. The arbitrary selection of prisoners for executions by the Ministry of Justice is seen to be an attempt to minimize public opposition to the death penalty. Three of the nine had appealed for clemency, one of which was rejected in late May 2000. The outcomes of the other two are not known. Four of the nine submitted habeas corpus petitions in December 1999, and another lodged an appeal for a retrial. As in similar cases in 1999, Amnesty International fears their executions will go ahead even though these appeals have reportedly not yet been decided. Citing biased Japanese government surveys, advocates of the death penalty in Japan claim that public support for the death penalty is overwhelming. However, there was no significant opposition in Japan to the de facto moratorium on executions of 1989-93. There are currently around 100 people under sentence of death in Japan. Many members of Japan's large anti-death penalty movement intend to picket the four detention centres where the nine prisoners are being held. A press conference calling for an end to executions in law and practise will be organized by Amnesty International Japanese Section and other anti-death penalty groups. ENDS.../ Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street, WC1X 8DJ, London, United Kingdom **************************************************************** You may repost this message onto other sources provided the main text is not altered in any way and both the header crediting Amnesty International and this footer remain intact. Only the list subscription message may be removed. **************************************************************** ------------------------------------- Corporate Watch in Japanese Transnational Resource and Action Center (TRAC) P.O. Box 29344 San Francisco, CA 94129 USA Tel: 1-415-561-6472 Fax: 1-415-561-6493 Email: cwj@corpwatch.org URL: http://www.corpwatch-jp.org ------------------------------------- ______________________ The Corporate Watch in Japanese http://www.corpwatch.org/japan (CWJ) mailing list is a moderated email list in English designed to connect activists campaigning against Japanese corporations and investments around the world. * To unsubscribe from the CWJ mailing list, send an email to majordomo@jca.apc.org with text "unsubscribe cwj". To subscribe to the CWJ mailing list, send a message to majordomo@jca.apc.org with the text "subscribe cwj" * The CWJ mailing list is NOT intended for wide distribution. If you would like to post messages from this list somewhere else, we ask that you first contact us at cwj@corpwatch.org ______________________