Misaki Yagishita
Amnesty International Japan
  

Amnesty International Japan

Good Afternoon. My name is Misaki YAGISHITA. I am the campaigner for abolition of death penalty. As you know, the Japan still keeps the death penalty. My mission is to promote the movement to abolish the death penalty in Japan, but the current situation of the movement against death penalty is difficult. Amnesty International is also a member of the religious network in Japan, which is calling for a moratorium now. Today, I would like to focus on the current situation of death row inmates in Japan especially on the problem of the innocent death row inmates.

For many Japanese, the death penalty is not an important issue. There are few opportunities for public debate on death penalty. But when the serious crime happens, almost every media reported the victims� voices which say that the killer should have capital punishment. On the other hand, execution is carried out in strict secrecy and no information is disclosed. The mass media rarely report on the death penalty situation. As a result, majority of Japanese believes the death penalty should be remained because the victims� families want to do so.

- Death Row Today

In September 2004, there are 61 death row inmates whose sentences were finalized. The treatment of death row inmates are especially hard. They are kept in solitary confinement in the prison where execution is to take place. Conditions in terms of prison cell, exercise, bathing, medical services and voluntary work are the same as other prisoners, but the communication with the outside world is very restricted. They are allowed to contact with a very few people who are very close family members. They are allowed to receive mail only from approved people, who are basically limited to very close family members. They are not told of their execution dates just a few hours before the execution occurs. Even their family members and lawyers are not told and they just know the execution is over. The death row inmates are usually executed after 7 or 8 years since their sentences were finalized. But at least 25 death row inmates are waiting for their executions more than 10 years after their sentences were finalized.

Under these harsh conditions, and facing the fear of death every day, many death row inmates develop mental disorders. In 1993 Tetsuo Kawanaka was executed despite suffering from schizophrenia at the time. The last September, Shinji Mukai, a 42 year-old prisoner, who was reportedly suffering from a mental sickness was executed. Iwao Hakamada (now 68), reportedly innocent from the very first stage of the investigation, now suffers from severe mental illness after almost 40 years of detention. He is now unable to recognize his sister or to understand that he is on death row. His request to open the retrial was rejected just a few weeks ago, even though there was high expectation to reveal his innocence if the retrial starts.

- Problem: Innocence

Although the death penalty is still widely supported in Japan, the majority doesn�t know there is a high risk that an innocent person sentenced to death. The innocence issue is very controversial issue in the United States, but in Japan such argument is less debated.

In Japan, since 1945, only 5 death row inmates have been exonerated and freed from death row. Sakae Menda and three others, while on death row, successfully appealed for their proceedings to open retrial and were then cleared of the false charges. No one knows for certain whether an innocent person has already been executed.

At present, we, the Japanese abolitionists think at least 8 death row inmates should be innocent case. This number accounted for 10 percent of all death row inmates whose sentences were already finalized. Their cases have the problems such as prosecutorial misconduct, mistaken evidence identification, and other miscarriages of justice. But their requests to open the retrial were rejected so far. So we cannot have any opportunity to review their cases in the court.

Several death row inmates died in prison, having consistently proclaimed their innocence. For example, Tsuneki Tomiyama, an 86 year-old death row prisoner, died of kidney failure the last year after having been in prison for some 39 years and under sentence of death for over 36 years.

We also think at least 5 death row inmates wrongly convicted and should not be sentenced to death, because their cases had some problems in their fact-finding process or in sentencing. For example, Tomizo ISHIDA, who is now the highest age death row inmate, sentenced to death because he killed 2 persons, but he has consistently claimed he killed only one person. According to his supporter, the prosecutor misused his confession to prove that he killed 2 persons even though there were many inconsistency between the murder scene and his confession.

According to the report on the death penalty issued by Japan Federation of Bar Associations, it pointed out the following points lead the institutional and operational Problems concerning death penalty in Japan. The report said that in Japan, miscarriages of justice are likely to take place because of

1) compulsory investigation with the use of arrest on separate charges and substitute prisons (daiyo kangoku),

2) forced confessions, judicial findings of facts with an emphasis on confessions,

3) insufficient rights to defense legal representatives of suspects and defendants,

4) the difficulty to correct miscarriage of justice by means of retrials.

The report also pointed out that miscarriage of justice may take place not only in the fact-finding process but also in the sentencing. The possibility of mistakes in sentencing is undeniable, and it is also undeniable that selection between capital punishment or life imprisonment could depend on subjective views of judges, including their views of the world.

The seriousness of the crime makes it more likely that judge would be reluctant to give a decision of "not guilty." Once serious crime happens, the mass media reported that a suspect should be a killer just based on the police sides� view. It also makes it the death sentence more likely, because almost all homicide cases will be pursued by the prosecution, even though the evidence may be weak.

- Conclusion

Compared with the U.S., the number of death row inmate and execution is really small. However, the problems around the death row inmate are the same as the ones in the U.S. There is a high possibility that an innocent man would be executed in Japan, too. The persons with mental disabilities were executed although such people should not be executed according to the International standards. But the debate on the death penalty is not active in Japan. The mass media in Japan does focus on the death penalty, but it does not focus on the abolition of death penalty. So we need help from outside Japan to move forward to abolition. Please put any pressure on the Japanese government and keep saying that the death penalty should be abolished in any country. It is very helpful for us to keep our movement against death penalty. Today we bring some brochure and paper which explains one of the innocent death row cases in Japan, the Hakamada case. Please take it one and sign your name to call for a moratorium in Japan.

Thank you very much.

List of possible innocent cases on death row

Masaru OKUNISHI (79)
[NABARI Case] On March 28, 1961, in a small village, 5 persons were killed and 12 were hospitalized for poisoning. Mr. Okunishi was suspected to be the killer, because he brought a bottle of poisoned wine. He insisted on his innocence but he was forced to confess at last. He was acquitted after his first trial in December 1964, but a higher court overturned this decision in 1969 and sentenced him to death. Since then, five applications for a retrial have been rejected.

Iwao HAKAMADA (68)
[HAKAMADA Case] Hakamada Iwao was arrested in August 1966, and accused of murdering the managing director of the factory in which he worked, the managing director's wife, and their two children. He was interrogated intensively by police over several weeks, in sessions lasting an average of 12 hours a day. Hakamada Iwao retracted his confession at his trial. It has been revealed that he made 45 confessions during interrogation and that the court chose one. His request for a retrial was rejected in 2004. Hakamada Iwao's family is concerned about his mental health because of his years of confinement under sentence of death.

Hajime KANAKAWA (54)
[KANAKAWA Case] A housewife was killed in 1979. Hajime KANAKAWA was suspected to kill her because he found her body first. He insisted on his innocence. There was an inconsistency between lip of a wound on the victim�s body and murder weapon.

Hiromoto HARUYAMA (70)
[HARUYAMA Case] In 1972, 2 women were killed. In 1974, a woman was raped. According to the raped woman�s testimony, he was arrested and forcibly confessed. There were some inconsistencies between circumstantial evidences and his evidences.

Masao ARAI (77)
[MISAKI Case] 3 people were killed in �Misaki� village. Although the footprints remained in the murder scene were smaller than Arai�s foot size, but he was arrested and was forcibly confessed.

Tetsuya SASAKI (54)
[ICHIHARA Case] When SASAKI�s parents were killed in 1974, he was arrested even though there were many inconsistency between his alibi and circumstantial evidences.

Katsuhisa OOMORI (54)
[OOMORI Case] In 1976, Hokkaido prefecture building was bombed and 2 persons were killed. Based on the testimonies, he was arrested but he claimed his innocence at the first stage of his trial.

Seijiro MURAMATSU(48)
[MIYASHIRO Case] In 1980, 2 persons were killed and he was arrested. At that time he was charged with another robbery, but he was forcibly confessed.