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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "The government has retained capital punishment partly based on its opinion polls. The one conducted in 2019 found that more than 80 percent of respondents said the death penalty is “unavoidable.” However, the report said poll respondents are not sufficiently informed. It proposed that explanations be given on how death-row convicts are treated during detention and that they are executed by hanging."
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A private-sector panel highlighted various problems with Japan’s capital punishment system, including the possibility of condemning innocent people, and suggested suspending executions until the flaws are sorted out.
The panel said “fundamental discussions” are needed at a commission to be established under the government or the Diet.
“The current system has many problems that should not be left unsolved, and it must not be allowed to continue as it is,” the panel said in a report compiled on Nov. 13.
Noting that a consensus will not be easy to form, the report suggested that the government consider suspending executions until a conclusion is reached at the proposed commission.
“In past discussions on the death penalty, supporters and opponents clashed with each other,” Makoto Ida, a professor of criminal law at Chuo Law School, who chairs the panel, told a news conference on Nov. 13. “Members of the panel tried to meet each other halfway.”
The report will be submitted to the government in the near future.
The panel was established in February at the initiative of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, which called for abolishing the death penalty in a declaration adopted in 2016.
Through the panel, the federation sought to obtain a proposal from a broader range of perspectives.
The 16 panel members include ruling and opposition lawmakers, a bereaved family member of a crime victim and a former prosecutor-general.
The report said capital punishment has been abolished in more than 70 percent of countries, and the United Nations has repeatedly called on those who retain it to suspend executions.
“There is doubt that (the death penalty) is undermining Japan’s national interest,” it said.
The report noted that in Japan, five death-row inmates were exonerated through retrials, including the acquittal in October of Iwao Hakamada, who was convicted of multiple murders in 1966.
The panel underscored the need for a system that eliminates the possibility of such wrongful convictions.
At the news conference, Kana Sasakura, a professor of criminal law at Konan University, who serves as acting chairperson of the panel, said Hakamada’s case has demanded serious soul-searching from society on the death penalty system.
The report also called for bolstering support for crime victims and their bereaved families.
It said their feelings should always be taken into consideration in making decisions on criminal justice, but whether the death penalty should be retained to satisfy their demand for a harsh punishment is “another matter.”
The report said the prolonged state of fear of death-row inmates, who do not know when they will die until the day of the execution, is a “major issue.”
It said discussions are necessary on how inmates should be treated, whether hanging is an appropriate means of execution, and how to deal with the psychological burdens on officers responsible for carrying out death penalties.
The government has retained capital punishment partly based on its opinion polls. The one conducted in 2019 found that more than 80 percent of respondents said the death penalty is “unavoidable.”
However, the report said poll respondents are not sufficiently informed.
It proposed that explanations be given on how death-row convicts are treated during detention and that they are executed by hanging."
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15507900
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
- SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
