JAPAN：
six more hanged in unprecedented execution spree

Thirteen members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult are now at risk of execution in Japan, following the conclusion of the trials of other cult members. The 13 men were found guilty of and sentenced to death for carrying out a deadly sarin gas attack in the Tokyo subway in 1995 and other illegal activities. Their executions could be carried out at any moment.

On 7 September the High Court of Tokyo upheld the conviction and indefinite prison sentence of the last man charged in relation to the 1995 sarin gas attack in the Tokyo subway system. The attack killed 13 people and injured over 6,000 others. The completion of the last judicial case related to this event means that the 13 Aum Shinrikyo cult members who were convicted and sentenced to death, in separate trials between 2006 and 2011, for their respective roles in orchestrating and carrying out the gas attack are now at risk of execution.

A new Minister of Justice, Katsutoshi Kaneda, was appointed in Japan on 3 August. Since taking office, he has repeatedly stated that he is in favour of the death penalty and that its abolition would not be appropriate given public support. Executions in Japan are by hanging, and are usually carried out in secret. Prisoners are typically given a few hours' notice, but some may be given no warning at all. This means that prisoners who have exhausted their legal remedies must spend their entire time on death row knowing they could be executed at any time. Their families are typically notified after the execution has taken place.

more

UA: 213/16 Index: ASA 21/4856/2016 Japan Issue Date: 19 September 2016

The execution of 13 members of Aum Shinrikyo could be carried out any moment following the completion of the trial for the final two other cult members who turned themselves in after 17 years on the run.

The 13 Aum Shinrikyo cult members who were convicted and sentenced to death in separate trials between 2006 and 2011, for their respective roles in orchestrating and carrying out a sarin gas attack in the Tokyo subway in 1995 and other illegal activities, are now at risk of execution. While their cases have been finalized for many years, so far no one has been executed in line with Article 475 of the Criminal Procedure Code as the cases of other co-defendants were yet to be concluded.

Court proceedings for all 192 Aum Shinrikyo members charged with various crimes are now complete. In 2012, the remaining two cult members turned themselves in after 17 years on the run. On 25 December 2017, the Supreme Court upheld the High Court｡ｦs decision to acquit Naoko Kikuchi on the grounds that she was unaware of the plot of the subway attack. One month later, on 25 January 2018, the Supreme Court further confirmed the life sentence of Katsuya Takahashi and his appeal to the Supreme Court was rejected a few days later.

Among the 13, a number of them are seeking retrials, but they may be executed before the court completes the examination of their requests. Execution of individuals with appeals or other proceedings still pending is against the UN Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of the Rights of Those Facing the Death Penalty. Furthermore, Article 457 (2) of Japan｡ｦs Criminal Procedure Code implies that those requesting to restore the right to appeal shall not be executed within the timeline required by law. Between 1999 and 2016, no one seeking a retrial was executed, however in 2017, three prisoners who had their appeals for retrial pending before the courts were executed. Former and current Ministers of Justice Katsutochi Kaneda and Yoko Kamikawa, who signed execution orders in 2017, said that they do not believe those seeking retrials should be exempt from execution.

もっと読む

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The 13 members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult who have been convicted for their respective roles in orchestrating and carrying out the gas attack are; Seiichi Endo, Satoru Hashimoto, Kiyohide Hayakawa, Yasuo Hayashi, Kenichi Hirose, Yoshihiro Inoue, Chizuo Matsumoto (also known as Shoko Asahara), Kazuaki Miyamae, Tomomasa Nakagawa, Tomomitsu Niimi, Toru Toyota, Masami Tsuchiya and Masato Yokoyama. Charges are based on crimes including murder, kidnapping and physically harming as well as experimenting with chemical and biological weapons.

Japan has been carrying out between one to 15 executions per year for past three decades except in 2011, when no one was executed. The defendants in Japan have to decide whether he/she will appeal the sentence within 14 days. If they do not appeal, the prisoner immediately starts serving a sentence. Article 475 (2) of Japan’s Criminal Procedure Code states, “The order set forth in the preceding paragraph shall be rendered within six months from the date when the judgment becomes final and binding; provided, however, that, where a request to restore the right to appeal or a request for a retrial, an extraordinary appeal, or an application or request for a pardon is made, the period before these proceedings have finished shall not be included in this period. Neither shall the period before the judgment becomes final nor binding for persons who are co-defendants be included in this.”

Secret executions are in contravention of international law and standards on the use of the death penalty. UN bodies and experts have repeatedly criticized this and the lack of other adequate legal safeguards, such as mandatory appeals, for those facing the death penalty in Japan. While psychiatrists hired by the lawyers for the guru, Chizuo Matsumoto (also known as Shoko Asahara) raised concern about the deterioration of his mental health caused by detention in 2005 and 2006. Subsequently in 2007, Japan Federation of Bar Associations｡ｦ recommendations for detention authorities to provide him with treatment was denied. Prisoners on death row are not allowed to talk to one another ｡V a restriction enforced by strict isolation. Japan does not effectively assess the mental health state of prisoners｡ｦ fitness for execution. According to one of Chizuo Matsumoto｡ｦs daughters, for the past ten years no one outside including his family and lawyers were able to meet him which makes it even harder to understand his mental state. Japan continues to sentence to death and execute prisoners with mental and intellectual disabilities which is a clear violation of international law and standards.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception, regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime, the guilt, innocence or other characteristics of the offender or the method used by the state to carry out the execution. The death penalty violates the right to life and is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.

Seven members of Aum Shinrikyo cult were executed without prior notice on 6 July 2018. The six other men sentenced to death in the same case remain at imminent risk of execution. The pattern against the international law to execute individuals with appeals or other proceedings still pending may continue.

Without any prior notice to the date of execution, the Minister of Justice of Japan announced on 6 July 2018 that prison authorities had carried out the executions of seven of the 13 Aum Shinrikyo cult members earlier that morning. Sentenced to death for their respective roles in orchestrating and carrying out a sarin gas attack in the Tokyo subway in 1995 and other illegal activities, the 13 men were convicted in separate trials between 2006 and 2011. Chizuo Matsumoto, Masami Tsuchiya and Seiichi Endo were hanged at the Tokyo Detention Centre; Kiyohide Hayakawa, at the Fukuoka Detention Centre; Yoshihiro Inoue and Tomomitsu Niimi, at the Osaka Detention Centre; and Tomomasa Nakagawa, at the Hiroshima Detention Centre. The execution of seven men in one day is unprecedented in recent history of Japan.

The remaining six men sentenced to death in relation to this attack remain at imminent risk of execution. Satoru Hashimoto, Kenichi Hirose and Toru Toyota are believed to be on death row at the Tokyo Detention Centre, while Yasuo Hayashi, Masato Yokoyama and Kazuaki Miyamae were among those prisoners who were moved to detention facilities in other parts of the country in March 2018. Though the cases of the 13 men have been finalized for many years, their death sentences have not been implemented until now in line with Article 475 of the Criminal Procedure Code, as the cases of other co-defendants were not concluded until January 2018.

According to their lawyers, some of the 13 men have been seeking retrials, and some of those executed or awaiting execution have appeals to this aim pending before Japanese courts. The execution of individuals with appeals or other proceedings still pending is against the UN Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of the Rights of Those Facing the Death Penalty. Furthermore, Article 457 (2) of Japan’s Criminal Procedure Code implies that those requesting to restore the right to appeal shall not be executed within the timeline required by law.

もっと読む

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

It is unprecedented in Japan to execute seven individuals in one day, as took place on 6 July 2018. Over the past three decades, Amnesty International has recorded a maximum number of four executions in one day. Japan has been carrying out 1–15 executions per year for the past three decades, except in 2011 (when no one was executed).

Between 1999 and 2016, no one seeking a retrial was executed in Japan. However, in 2017 three prisoners who had their appeals for retrial pending before the courts were executed. Former and current Ministers of Justice Katsutochi Kaneda and Yoko Kamikawa, who signed execution orders in 2017, said that they do not believe those seeking retrials should be exempt from execution. Defendants in Japan are required to decide whether to appeal their sentence within 14 days. If they do not appeal within that period, the prisoner immediately starts serving a sentence. Regarding the timing to implement the death sentence, Article 475 (2) of Japan’s Criminal Procedure Code states: “The order set forth in the preceding paragraph shall be rendered within six months from the date when the judgment becomes final and binding; provided, however, that, where a request to restore the right to appeal or a request for a retrial, an extraordinary appeal, or an application or request for a pardon is made, the period before these proceedings have finished shall not be included in this period. Neither shall the period before the judgment becomes final nor binding for persons who are co-defendants be included in this.”

Secret executions are in contravention of international law and standards on the use of the death penalty. UN bodies and experts have repeatedly criticized this and the lack of other adequate legal safeguards, such as mandatory appeals, for those facing the death penalty in Japan.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception, regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime, the guilt, innocence or other characteristics of the offender or the method used by the state to carry out the execution. The death penalty violates the right to life and is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. As of today, 106 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes and 142 are abolitionist in law or practice. Japan is among a shrinking minority of states that persist with this cruel practice.

Following the executions of seven members of the religious cult Aum Shinrikyo (Aum) earlier this month, the remaining six men sentenced to death in the same case were hanged early on 26 July 2018. The last time Japan executed more than 10 people in a year was in 2008. It is also extremely rare for Japan to carry out two rounds of executions in the same month.

Satoru Hashimoto, Yasuo Koike (Hayashi), Kenichi Hirose, Kazuaki Okazaki (Miyamae), Toru Toyota and Masato Yokoyama were executed without any prior notice in the early hours of Thursday morning, 26 July 2018. Against international law and standards, the Japanese government again carried out executions despite the pending retrial request of four. The men were sentenced to death for their involvement in the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, as well as other illegal activities.

This is the second group execution in Japan within a matter of weeks as seven other Aum members were hanged on 6 July. While 13 have now been executed in the month of July 2018, over 100 people remain on death row without knowing when their last day will be. Those on death row in Japan are kept in harsh conditions, including routine isolation and limited human contact. International human rights bodies have repeatedly condemned Japan’s use of the death penalty, including with reference to the cruel secrecy that surrounds executions and prolonged periods of detention in solitary confinement.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty unconditionally, in all cases without exception, regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime, the guilt, innocence or other characteristics of the offender or the method used by the state to carry out the execution. Therefore, while the recent series of executions may demonstrate Japan’s determination to retain the death penalty, we will continue to campaign to end this grave violation of human rights.

No further action is requested from the UA network. Many thanks to all who sent appeals.