crime

Aum executions open door for more debate on death penalty

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 it opens the door for society to engage in further debate about the death penalty.

No, that is not quite true, the door has always been open, some lawyers and activists are not going to force a debate on a country that overwhelmingly supports the death penalty.

9 ( +16 / -7 )

Global trend ? US, China and Japan, the top three, all have legal system to punish criminals deathly. That is the global trend.

-6 ( +15 / -21 )

But why does it have to be such a barbaric method?

-9 ( +8 / -17 )

Recounting how the doomsday cult attracted educated youths, Tadashi Moriyama, a Takushoku University professor, said he feels that "it was not fully revealed at the trial or among researchers why many highly educated people or those with high social status were involved in the crimes."

If you are a professor and you don't know the answer to your questions here regarding why the information, if there was any, was not revealed to the public, then maybe YOU need to rethink if you are truly qualified to be teaching others.

Just because someone is supposedly highly educated, and it wasn't just youths either, if you look at the ages of the people who were just executed you will see, does not mean they are "smart".

I know plenty of folks who this guy would think are "un" educated, but they certainly are smarter than this guy!

0 ( +8 / -8 )

In reviewing Murakami's Underground, Ian Buruma wrote:

"But the reasons why it attracted some of the best and brightest in Japan are still elusive. The novelist Haruki Murakami, after talking to victims, as well as some of the perpetrators of the subway gassing, concludes that there is something specifically rotten about Japanese society, something he describes in his book, Underground, as 'the lack of a broad world vision'. Japanese life, in his view, has been narrowed to purely material, technocratic aims. What the religious killers wanted was a meaningful armageddon."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/jun/04/religion.uk

This excerpt from the book in the NYT is also worth a read:

https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/m/murakami-01underground.html

12 ( +16 / -4 )

This is a perversion of justice. The guy is guilty of at least 3 extremely serious crimes:

Kidnapping

Child rape

Murder

Crime #2 and #3 carries penalty of murder. Crime #1 is life imprisonment. The judge equates the crimes he inflicted on a child with the same crimes on an adult, which is non-sense. He chose the minimal sentence of the 3 crimes. Japanese justice is strange and perverse. Stupid Japanese judge.

-4 ( +4 / -8 )

Mass-murderers are insane, whether he was mentally competent is a non-issue. Competent or not, he knew how to scam and kill people. Competent or not, he needed to be removed from human society. I do not support the death penalty, but it is the law of the land.

The government gave him a final opportunity to demonstrate his levitation technique. He failed.

5 ( +13 / -8 )

John Hanson, you asked "Why Barbaric" Perhaps you weren't on the trains when they gassed all those innocent people heading to work and other places. Why don't you conciser the gassing/murdering of innocent people barbaric? I was in Tokyo that day and do clearly remember it. Fortunately for me and my kids, I wasn't on that train.

11 ( +17 / -6 )

since1981 - totally agreed.

after they killed innocent people, they live another 23 years +. i counted that as a reward not punishment.

4 ( +11 / -7 )

If Japanese society supports the death penalty, so keep it.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

The only debate that's required is what took them so long to carry out the sentence on this scum. David de Castro, you are 100% spot on.

-1 ( +7 / -8 )

Even so, Friday's execution of the seven death row inmates reflected the Justice Ministry's sensitivity not only to the feelings of victims and their families, but a strong public resentment against the deadly crimes perpetrated by him.

Kyodo getting dangerously close to to jumping the gap between journalism and propaganda there.

since1981Today  07:27 am JST

John Hanson, you asked "Why Barbaric" Perhaps you weren't on the trains when they gassed all those innocent people heading to work and other places. Why don't you conciser the gassing/murdering of innocent people barbaric? 

Nothing in Hanson's comment suggests that a gas attack is not barbaric, and it is dishonest to suggest his criticism of one form of barbarism must be an endorsement of another.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

Why is it if a person commits a crime many think they should get off? NO, if a person or group kills someone they should be put to death for the killing!

-3 ( +7 / -10 )

It seems in this case the crimes committed by at least some of these people warrant an extreme punishment. I cannot imagine the suffering those went through of those that died.

I am generally against the death penalty for all but the most extreme cases. I am not sure if I want to support the government being sanctioned to take life. However, this is quite an extreme case as is the case of the Vietnamese child that was murdered.

Regardless this is a topic which should be constantly debated.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

mtuffizi - after they killed innocent people, they live another 23 years +. i counted that as a reward not punishment.

Actually, that is where you are wrong. His death was a release from punishment. Now, his suffering is over, but not the suffering of those who were injured or the families of those killed. Their suffering still remains. Rotting in a jail cell for the rest of one’s life is a punishment. The death penalty is nothing more than a medieval ‘eye for an eye’ revenge mentality that should not exist in ‘modern’ society.

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

No it doesn't.

It just opens the door to Hanging Season.

Aren't there SIX MORE Aum on the Waiting List ?

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

All these pathetic bleeding hearts saying how barbaric the death penalty is. Was they way they murdered innocent people not barbaric?

I'm 100% in favor of the death penalty. Well done to Japan for this. It should be done more often I think.

-9 ( +4 / -13 )

With their deaths, Japan will now have to grapple with the aftermath of unanswered questions over the crimes -- with no longer any chance of hearing explanations directly from Asahara or the six others.

I do not buy in to this. There was sufficient information why the cult planned,executed and masterminded these horrendous crimes. Do not need to blue print out there so some other fanatic can copy Aum. This may sound narrow minded and simplistic. However some facts about the case do not need to be known.

I fully support the capital punishment. These vermin didn't deserve a cell or three squares a day. The only question that should be debated is why it took justice so long to be delivered. I understand the trials and discovery as well due process. However a little slow on just getting the deed done.

factcheckerToday  08:20 am JST

The only debate that's required is what took them so long to carry out the sentence on this scum. David de Castro, you are 100% spot on. I second!

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Much is made of the public's "support" of capital punishment by proponents of killing people. This "support" is, however, based on a dearth of public debate stemming from the lukewarm MSM on bended knee to the "Authorities" and the widespread lack of interest in the ethics of state-sanctioned killings shown by an over-worked and under-informed public. Despite the democratic freedoms granted to them after WW2, many Japanese are still fearful of authority and averse to sticking their necks out and criticizing government officials and their policies, a fact that many foreigners who have lived in Japan can attest to. My experience has shown that it is extremely easy to reverse the "thinking" of most young adult Japanese who vaguely "support" capital punishment: simply get them to watch disturbing films exposing the brutality and cruelty of state executions and the human cost to all those directly involved. The result is a consistent 90% support for abolition! Whodathunkit?

4 ( +6 / -2 )

As liberal as I am, there are certain crimes like murder for which the person who thinks about doing it must know that there is this ultamate penalty. This should discourage them from taking another life. So yes, I support the death penalty. If someone kills a family member or lover, yes, I want them to die.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

why does it have to be such a barbaric method?

It's a message AGAINST barbarism.

-4 ( +3 / -7 )

"But the reasons why it attracted some of the best and brightest in Japan are still elusive. The novelist Haruki Murakami, after talking to victims, as well as some of the perpetrators of the subway gassing, concludes that there is something specifically rotten about Japanese society, something he describes in his book, Underground, as 'the lack of a broad world vision'. Japanese life, in his view, has been narrowed to purely material, technocratic aims. What the religious killers wanted was a meaningful armageddon."

Underground may well be Murakami's best book and this quote from Buruma is both accurate and chilling. Sadly, in the 25 years since Aum attempted their meaningful armageddon Japan has become even more material and technocratic as to compete with China and Korea is the obsession of the LDP. Hanging the leaders of Aum and sweeping under the carpet any meaningful analysis of what is wrong with Japanese society is simply a recipe for disaster.

10 ( +10 / -0 )

They had twenty some odd years to get the whole story, if you can't get it in that amount of time, you ain't getting it!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The argument that the death penalty reflects the will of the people (80%+ support) is flawed, but the govt and others use this as the basis for the continuation of the act.

For example the public majority by far also opposes Japan's nuclear industry, but the govt pays it little attention. The majority of people also oppose changing the war renouncing constitution, but the govt dismisses the notion.

Why then, is the public support for the Death Penalty held up by authorities as an absolutism?

Why is there so much "official secrecy" around the Death Sentence, Penalty and Execution? What are they afraid of?

Why is the topic not openly debated more often, in particular at times other than when hangings are carried out?

Why is the topic of mistaken death sentencing (not the Aum case) rarely if ever not brought to the public forum in a "Big" way?

Just a few of many questions a govt and society need to address if they believe their support for killing killers is justified.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Underground may well be Murakami's best book and this quote from Buruma is both accurate and chilling.

Agreed. I've never been a fan of his fiction but his essays and interviews are always thought-provoking. Of course, it wouldn't occur to many that an artist or intellectual might draw more penetrating and meaningul conclusions about such a tragedy than politicians or members of the judiciary, wired as they are to keep society intact, no matter how poorly functioning certain components are.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Mass-murderers are insane, whether he was mentally competent is a non-issue. 

Insane? Case by case. If they were ALL insane that might be some comfort. Unfortunately, they are often like “us”. As different writers have opined, we, because of our humanity, are capable of such crimes but have learned by better example not to indulge our dark side.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Very strange way to execute someone. Suddenly out of the blue somebody decides it's the day to kill a killer without telling anyone. That is barbaric!

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

Friday's execution...reflected the Justice Ministry's sensitivity not only to the feelings of victims and their families...

"the feelings of victims" meaning their lust for revenge, I take it. This sentiment is pretty common throughout Asia.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

The debate is why wait so long to rid the world of these people. Time for Japan to free up these cells.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

It sure hinders repeat offenders.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Justice has been done. Period.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

To kill makes you a killer. Even if you don’t personally have any connections. Killing is killing.

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

After millennia of despotic oppression and terror (killing the chicken to scare the monkeys) and ruthless suppression of thought in ALL Asian countries, the peoples of Asia have yet to liberate themselves mentally so that enlightened, democratic values can take root and informed debates can take place. The Japanese may lead the pack, but much more self-reflection is needed before even they will able to loosen their mental fetters and overcome their fear of authority. The weight of their formidable cultural baggage is an important, not to be overlooked factor in explaining the slow progress toward the abolition of state murder in Japan, a country whose ruling elite sleep with one eye open lest all nails that stick up are not promptly hammered down.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

My opinion on death penalty is a pretty simple one: jail for life is a far greater punishment.

I find death penalty pretty soft compared to life-long imprisonment. If i was to choose, i would have had these criminals remain inside forever, with no chance of going out. That's punishment, in my book at least.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

One thing : implementation of Death penalty makes a repeat offender stop.

Then each case to debate is ok for me, if not too long.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

So then we better just close down the legal/court system. Don't even have laws because there may always be a chance a mistake was made somewhere in the process. Let's just adopt an honor system. That will make things better.

And to the newbs who say to kill makes you a killer, I can happily accept that. I would have no problem pressing all 3 buttons so everyone knows I was the one who did it. Good riddance.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

To kill makes you a killer. Even if you don’t personally have any connections. Killing is killing.

Yes. Abortion is killing. Suicide is killing. Homicide is killing. But murder is a special category of killing, one which has often in history been answered by the severest of punishments, i.e. execution. Hanging is among the least gruesome.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

I find death penalty pretty soft compared to life-long imprisonment. If i was to choose, i would have had these criminals remain inside forever, with no chance of going out. That's punishment, in my book at least.

The above punishment is fine for a poor country where prisoners have to work for their food and medicine. Do you have any idea about the cost to keep a prisoner in high security per year in the industrial countries? It would be much fairer if those who reject the capital punishment should share part of the cost.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

An eye for an eye is totally right when it comes to murder, rape, child abuse or the act of taking or destroying another's life!

You take away someone's right to live by choice, through planning,  and a lack of remorse or empathy involved than you forfeit your own right to live! Simple!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I think that if someone goes out with the intention of killing anyone, or more, you automatically enter for death penalty, the death penalty is not there for parking or speeding fines or burglary. it is there as punishment for those who want/wish to take someones else life. some people say "well its not a deterrent" perhaps it won't deter some nut job, some people are born bad, and it does not matter if there is a deterrent or not, they will commit these appalling crimes. In certain circumstances the death penalty should remain in force.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

1995 crime/terrorist act occurred

2018 executed

...???!!!

Even without an actual death penalty, that could be death by attrition...23 years. Wow (and yes, America is delayed badly too.

PS If we were to go to an eye for an eye, shouldn't we lock him in a subway train and release sarin gas instead of hanging? Death by same method he used?

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Tripham:

"Kidnapping, Child rape, Murder. Crime #2 and #3 carries penalty of murder. Crime #1 is life imprisonment."

I can see murder getting the death penalty, but not rpe. I don't argue that that is the case in Japan, just confused and curious of the logic. US Supreme Court ruled that any rape cannot carry death penalty as the perpetrator did not cause death. By punishing rpe, even child rpe, by death penalty would encourage more perpetrators to kill their victim - less chance of them talking that way. I'm sure parents would prefer their child emotionally and physically damaged and alive, rather than dead. I could be wrong.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

The AUM members executed and those still on death row, except for Shoko Asahara, wrote letters of atonement probably in an attempt to not have their sentences carried out

Their letters of atonement mean nothing. Too little, too late. Most criminals are "sorry" after they have been convicted.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

So, if capital punishment executes one single innocent person, then capital punishment it not worth it. 

War kills millions of people. Maybe some of you so down on capital punishment could worry more about wars instead.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Hanging is among the least gruesome

I beg to differ. Look up Saddam Hussein's execution by hanging on Google or Bing and then tell me it isn't gruesome. It sure ain't a pretty or glorious sight. Not to say that he didn't have it coming but nothing to cheer about either.

And it's no different with these creeps. During the 90s there were plenty of weird cults - America had the Branch Davidian suicides and in the US, Canada, France and Switzerland there were mass cult suicides when the great Comet Hale-Bopp came near to Earth in 1997. And at the end of the century it happened in Uganda. Biggest difference in this case was - the Aum killed and injured many people in Tokyo with a terror attack. It was murder, not a cult suicide. I don't celebrate their executions but at the same time I don't feel sorry for these jerks at all. They took innocent lives with no concern.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

the feelings of victims" meaning their lust for revenge, I take it. This sentiment is pretty common throughout Asia.

Remove the beam in your US eye :)

0 ( +2 / -2 )

I beg to differ. Look up Saddam Hussein's execution by hanging on Google or Bing and then tell me it isn't gruesome.

Read the words again. “Least gruesome” doesn’t mean “not gruesome”. I state this as instructive advice, not a personal attack.

I had being burned alive and being hung, drawn and quartered in mind if you need more graphic examples.

Though the Aum hangings were not broadcast or, to my knowledge, recorded either for the archives or secretly for social media purposes, I think it is safe to assume that they were done properly.

In contrast, the Hussein execution may have been deliberately botched. Hussein probably hadn’t considered what his fate might be when he, like Asahara, ordered a poison gas attack.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

I have never ever heard of a criminal who was executed go on to commit one more crime.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

I have never ever heard of a criminal who was executed go on to commit one more crime.

And I've never ever heard of one wrongly executed innocent person who went on to do a good deed.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Pukey2 wrote:

I have never ever heard of a criminal who was executed go on to commit one more crime.

Strangerland wrote:

And I've never ever heard of one wrongly executed innocent person who went on to do a good deed.

Let’s zero in on a specific case. Ummm ... how about the subject of this article?

No, Puke, Asahara won’t be planning massacres for some time.

Strangerland, you’re talking about a policy that has indeed sent innocent people to their death in various places and times through incompetent legal defense, tampering with or withholding of evidence by police and prejudiced jurists, etc..

But let me ask you. When there is a preponderance of evidence against a defendant, an open and fair judicial process and appeals heard all leading to a conclusion that the defendant is indeed guilty as charged, are you still dead set against capital punishment? If so, why? No hidden agenda here, just would like to hear.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

But let me ask you. When there is a preponderance of evidence against a defendant, an open and fair judicial process and appeals heard all leading to a conclusion that the defendant is indeed guilty as charged, are you still dead set against capital punishment? If so, why? No hidden agenda here, just would like to hear.

I have no moral objection to the executing someone who is guilty. But people are never supposed to be sentenced to death unless there is no reasonable to their guilt. Yet even then, people are still mistake. So how do you specifically identify whether there has been a preponderance of evidence? There is always supposed to be a preponderance of evidence when someone is guilty. If there is not, they are supposed to be found innocent.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

"Justice demands accountability but also respect for everyone's human rights. The death penalty can never deliver this as it is the ultimate denial of human rights," 

Sure, the death penalty may never bring the victims back, but at least it will be a way of getting rid of filthy human trash we don't need. Heinous crimes calls for heinous punishments.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Some people believed too much in Prison break scenario here.

Killing innocent happened some decades ago or in nowadays "democratic" republics. Not in Japan or USA because then the judges themselves would be hanged.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Killing innocent happened some decades ago or in nowadays "democratic" republics. Not in Japan or USA

Didn't bother to fact check yourself did you:

https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/innocence-list-those-freed-death-row

1 ( +1 / -0 )

but at least it will be a way of getting rid of filthy human trash we don't need. Heinous crimes calls for heinous punishments

In that case it should also apply to white collar criminals, corrupt governments, leaders and big corporate barons who destroy and impoverish the lives of millions, yes?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Ike-in-Tokyo-from-89July 8 09:42 am JSTI beg to differ. Look up Saddam Hussein's execution by hanging on Google or Bing and then tell me it isn't gruesome.

Read the words again. “Least gruesome” doesn’t mean “not gruesome”. I state this as instructive advice, not a personal attack.

And you are absolutely right. Executions in my home state are by injection and they often cause convulsions and pain as well. The only 'not gruesome' means of execution might be a laser beam, like phasers on kill in the STAR TREK TV series, and even that may be a stretch. Then again, I remember in history class in college that the guillotine was invented in France to 'humanize executions'. It took SIX drops of the blade to chop the king's head off - so go figure!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Fastcheck

The list provided showed they were NOT executed.

Don't use a wrong list.

Give me list of people who have undergone the death row and now proven innocent.

Very very very short list.

Give me list of killers who have been released or escaped and killed again.

Compare saved and killed innocent lives.

Prove me wrong but not with meaningless list.

Tell me recent killed by death row proven innocent person please.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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