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© KYODO
Japan criticized for treating death-row inmates inhumanely
By Daisuke Sato TOKYO©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
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ebisen
So many "thoughts and prayers" spent on the remorseless murderers. So few thoughts spent on the innocent victims and their relatives :( . This reversal of values is what's wrong in the "participation gold medals" Western society.
Japan treats it's death row inmates not worse than they deserve. They get water and two meals a day. That's enough. Their victims didn't know their lives were going to end the days these criminals took them. Think about that first.
ebisen
I mean, in this very article, not a single word about the victims was written. Like they didn't even existed. Was it written by AI? It has the empathic value of AI written text - exactly zero.
Japantime
There is a famous saying ‘if you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime’. Please remember that these people gave up their rights after committing heinous crimes of murder and rape. Now they expect a life of luxury. I am happy to see them suffer.
TaiwanIsNotChina
The law isn't supposed to be about revenge, and there is always the possibility of someone innocent being caught up in there.
sakurasuki
Inmates can't talk with each other? Even Soviet's Gulag or German concentration camps allow prisoner to talk to each other. Japan always one step ahead!
TaiwanIsNotChina
Utter nonsense: I presume an inmate could have their lawyer know the date of their execution if they wanted to keep it a surprise.
How often do they expect that to happen? Maybe use a less painful method than hanging by strangulation.
TaiwanIsNotChina
I don't know about Japanese prisons but I suspect no internet and barely funcitonal food and housing is not living a life of luxury.
sakurasuki
They are not necessarily the real culprit, don't forget on how justice being done in Japan, 99% conviction.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/07/japan-death-row-iwao-hakamada-murder-retrial-verdict
Yubaru
Only according to the Japanese judicial system.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Their victims didn't know they were likely to die in the next few months/a year.
bass4funk
How should they be treated? They should be treated harshly.
travelbangaijin
So were their victims
Hello Kitty 321
@ebisen
Didn’t you read yesterday’s story about Mr Hakamata who was kept in those conditions for almost half a century, giving him mental problems, despite the fact that he was probably innocent, but even after releasing him ten years ago the courts will not allow him to have a retrial to clear his name. And you think this is ‘no worse than he deserves’?
wallace
Only Japan and the US in the G7 still have capital punishment. The Japanese death row is the cruelest and inhumane with unnecessary punishment.
TaiwanIsNotChina
You don't know that. One second of terror is pretty meaningless.
virusrex
Nonsense.
The responsibility of the government to the victims is (to a certain degree) fulfilled when the criminal is caught and punished, and measures are in place to avoid as realistically possible that the crimes continue. There is nothing about regressing to the medieval times that benefit the victims.
The main point of a government acting humanely is not about who "deserves" to be treated this way, but how the government itself need to do it as a responsibility to the population in general. Acting inhumanely (specially in cases where there is no need or justification) makes the country inhumane also without any need. It puts Japan on a lower class of democracies, closer to dictatorships where the human life has little value so executions are not considered problematic.
If a country expresses a desire to be considered humane then it has to act accordingly, When it says "killing people is justified to show how killing people is not justified" is too obviously wrong to defend.
factchecker
These perps didn't treat their victims 'humanely' either. They deserve everything they get. Amnesty International can go to hell.
WoodyLee
Killing another Human for committing a crime is a MURDER as well.
virusrex
You understand that you are asking for the government to descend to the same level as the criminals, right? This makes absolutely no sense, society is supposed to hold itself to a better standard instead of justifying becoming as bad as their criminals.
WoodyLee
Plus who are we to decide if and when to END another Human Beings life, a judge or a court panel can and did make mistakes in the past, they can be bribed, they can be threatened and influenced by others or $$$, it happened in the past and it will happen again.
bass4funk
As it should be towards criminals. No sympathy whatsoever.
wallace
The role of society is to stand at a higher level than murderers. Reducing society to the same level makes it no better than them. I disagree with the death penalty but inmates should be treated with common decency humanity.
wallace
What happened to your Christian morality?
Capital punishment has been abolished in 23 American states and the federal capital, Washington, D.C.
wallace
A supporter of child executions.
The Ripper!
Obviously you are not familiar with US laws, as a non-US citizen.
Capital punishment is legal punishment under federal law.
carpslidy
Good let them suffer
wallace
Capital punishment has been abolished in 23 American states and the federal capital, Washington, D.C.
You are doubting that 23 states no longer use the death penalty?
Only 16 inmates have been federally executed since 1988.
https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/state-and-federal-info/federal-death-penalty/executions-under-the-federal-death-penalty
Mr Kipling
They are on death row for killing. The are "inhuman", so they are treated exactly how they should be.
wallace
Mr Kipling
Their crimes were "inhuman."
The Ripper!
You haven't researched capital punishment in the US? Should be interesting as a foreigner.
wallace
Wrongful convictions and wrongful executions are a problem like the case of Hakamata who spent more than 40 years on death row until he was almost mentally insane.
BertieWooster
As has been pointed out here, if the individual was guilty without any doubt, and the crime was so hideous that punishment was death, it begins to make some kind of sense. But the hostage/justice method of solitary confinement for months, years until a "confession" is obtained leads to the prisoner admitting to anything, just to get out of the cell. No lawyer. No communication with anyone. And someone said internet - you really must be joking. This system is an anachronism. And giving the death sentence and then keeping the guy for months and years not knowing when he is going to die is taking the punishment way over the top. The best thing would be to abolish the death sentence altogether and find a way to rehabilitate him or her. There must be a way.
deanzaZZR
Access to in person family visits and religious authorities (priest, monk, etc) would be the humane way.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Yeah how dare they call out people being tortured to death.
TaiwanIsNotChina
And that should be true in the PRC as well where people are routinely disappeared.
El Rata
Their victims weren't given ample notice either. I believe they could improve the current system by carrying out the execution no later than a week after sentencing.
u_s__reamer
The right-wing Japanese rulers will never change their ways of killing without resistance from the public which will be one or two generations hence, for human actors in all governments pass and execute laws as they see fit unless there is overwhelming pressure from the public. The secrecy with which the state carries out judicial killings insulates politicians and bureaucrats from the repercussions that always accompany public executions (which is why they were abolished). Secrecy ensures the passivity of the general public who are shut out of the ritual. The MSM disseminating information, promoting notoriety of the condemned and grooming the public's emotional response create the fog of cognitive dissonance that Charlie Chaplin noted on his way to the gallows: “One murder makes a villain… millions a hero. Numbers sanctify my good friend.” This bitter truth assails our conscience today more than ever as we witness daily unprecedented extra-judicial "executions" in numbers that exceed those of the worst serial murderers.
wallace
Out of 195 countries 144 have abolished their death penalties.
gokai_wo_maneku
People are on death row for a reason. They did something horrible, usually murder. No reason to be nice to them.
u_s__reamer
They are on death row for killing. The are "inhuman", so they are treated exactly how they should be.
Homicide is called such after "homo sapiens", our primate species and, like our "cousins" the chimpanzees, killing our own is the ineradicable hallmark of our species. We should all be more exercised about those killers on a mass-scale who wage wars and execute thousands rather than run-of-the-mill murderers, even the serial kind.
Simon Foston
ebisenToday 06:43 am JST
Its death row inmates. The sentence is death, not decades of isolation, deprivation and mental torment followed by death.
gokai_wo_manekuToday 10:25 am JST
Or they got fitted up by the police and had confessions forced out of them. Murder is the only capital crime in Japan, by the way.
Fighto!
Make no mistake - these are despicable, monstrous killers. The worst of the worst. Child killers, psychopaths and just pure evil. Did they ever treat their victims - or anyone in society - humanely. Absolutely NOT.
Their hangings cannot come soon enough. They have no right to be kept alive. Keep the system of letting them know no more than one hour before they are extinguished.
Mr Kipling
If we are so concerned about the mental stress on convicted murderers then perhaps we should just let them go free?
Mr Kipling
And why even bother with a trial? We might get it wrong...
Get rid of prison all together, Incase someone should possible get convicted of a crime they didn't commit.
TokyoLiving
Their country, their rules..
GO JAPAN!!..
Jonathan Prin
Those taki g the case of Hakamata is an obsolete trick of more than 60 years ago.
First nowadays all death trials are known to all in democratic countries, ie all cases where there is a doubt are not implemented.
Second, I have the most empathy with the victims. Don't reverse roles. Imagine giving Hitler a clean cell where he could enjoy food and long time self-reflexion...and for most of us, he did nothing wrong to us. Now imagine, he killed all your family with the least humane look possible finding normal living conditions in concentration camps...(I know it is Godwin rule, but for demonstration since no one knows otherwise what is a vicious person).
Third, I prefer to save more innocents than possible high profile murderers, mathematically speaking. Just don't think those murderers have just made one and only mistake in their life. No for the large majority they would do it again with no regret.
Please think first with arguments instead of spreading the irresponsible lie of every human is a potential good life. And I am a Christian educated but I put reason over ideologies.
wallace
Jonathan Prin
your country France abolished its capital punishment in 1981.
Falco1
No matter how we put things the fact is that in certain aspects of justice,human and animal rights Japan is closer to a developing country rather than a full modern democracy.
Japan has the tendency to dislike changes and as long as these old gezeers are still there at the top their country will somehow retain these primitive rules.
wallace
The article is about the treatment of death row inmates. Kept in a two-mat cell. No windows. Lights on 24/7. Inspections every 15 minutes. Not allowed to lie down during the day. One book is allowed. No TV/papers. They must remain seated and cannot move without the guards' permission. Notice arrives on the morning of the execution. No warning to families. Families are informed afterward. No family visits.
https://www.prison-insider.com/en/articles/japon-conditions-de-detention-des-condamnes-a-mort#:~:text=Prisoners%20sentenced%20to%20death%20spend,move%20without%20the%20guards'%20permission.
u_s__reamer
Their country, their rules..
A lazy argument that just begs the question, who are "they" & "their"? Unless one shares the view espoused by "Founding Father", wealthy John Jay who was wont to say: “Those who own the country ought to govern it.”
TaiwanIsNotChina
A nonsense argument. Prison is there to protect others and if a mistake is made, the person can be let out and even awarded damages.
Zaphod
Not from the point of the victims.
Moonraker
Maybe because we live in a state of barbarism, upheld by many as the only solution to a civilised life, we end up with heinous crimes. Sure you can argue the inmates get what they deserve but so do we from living in such barbaric societies. It might be time to rethink what we consider civilised completely. Though the barbaric will still think things are fine as they are and we will continue to suffer from them.
Futaro Gamagori
Haters all over this room
garypen
So? What's the problem? Same result.
Mr Kipling
I know its a stupid argument. Just like every post on here saying we should have sympathy for hurt feelings of convicted murderers. They are being serious. I wasn't.
Simon Foston
Fighto!Today 12:09 pm JST
Um. Well. That's part of the problem, really. They don't.
TokyoLivingToday 12:25 pm JST
Oh God. Do you say that about the Taliban, too. Or the North Koreans. The same logic applies to every country, right?
Sven Asai
Shouldn't have committed severe crimes that lead to sentences of becoming a death-row inmate. How about this, well rethinking and stopping it all before committing such crimes, instead of complaining afterwards about bad treatment in prison and potentially be executed one day?
USNinJapan2
If those of you who support the death penalty were to be accused and convicted of a capital crime you didn't commit and were to spend decades on death row here in solitary confinement in inhumane conditions wondering each morning if today is the day you'll hang, I would hope that you would change your tune. As long as the justice system is fallible and is prone to erroneously convict an innocent person, capital punishment, which is irreversible and for which restitution can't be made, will remain unethical and must be abolished.
wallace
Most of those convicted of murders are given the ultimate punishment of the death penalty. However, how long they will wait for their executions is an unknown factor. Some after their appeals have ended others after many decades on death row.
There is no need to inflict additional additional and cruel punishments.
wallace
Mr Kipling
Which poster commented on the hurt feelings of the inmates? No one.
WeiWei
Did this really come out of a lawyer? People on DEATH ROW terrified they might die? That is exactly why they are on death row, waiting to die.
wallace
The living conditions of the death row inmates are worse than what would be allowed for animals.
Mr Kipling
You don't really believe that. Their conditions are not great. They are there to be punished. It's not a holiday. They killed someone, or in Japan's case at least 2 people.
Their conditions should be basic, really basic.
wolfshine
Japan definitely deserves to be criticized on a decent number of issues/policies, but this isn't one of them.
I support the death penalty.
wallace
Mr Kipling
The living conditions of the death row inmates are worse than what would be allowed for animals.
The living conditions are less than basic and include torture. The death row life is now documented and several are available online.
Basic humanity would be a good beginning.
virusrex
For a civilized country that puts priority on human rights (that Japan claims to be) the conditions must be of course humane. The conditions are not a reflection of the criminals being subjected to them (after all they have no choice) but a reflection of the government that grants them. Treating inhumanely the criminals means the government is inhumane.
How do you refute the arguments that governments should be better than the criminals and therefore do not kill people without need just to satisfy desires of violence?
Just liking something is a very bad argument to say that something is not worth criticizing.
OssanAmerica
What other judicial system applies or has any relevance to a crime comitted in Japan?
carpslidy
USNinJapan2Today 04:09 pm JST
And God forbid, if your family member was murder I am sure you would change your tune
I imagine the victims of these dreadful crimes aren't concerned about these animals welfare
Deluded Brian
No, it means the criminals are treated as criminals.
virusrex
You understand that people can be rational and humane even in the middle of tragedy, right? what you imagine other people would do in an hypothetical situation in no way refutes the argument that a government has a responsibility being civilized and respect human rights, specially when it has proudly announced that is its intention. Making your position sole basis the desire for violence and revenge instead of a rational and ethical argument makes it easier to defeat since those are not valid sources to define a course of action.
Countries around the world are perfectly capable of treating criminals like criminals without at the same time becoming inhumane, this is not a valid argument.
Some dude
As we can't vote, the Japanese government probably couldn't give a toss about our opinions, but I bet they monitor the views of the electorate. Last I heard, capital punishment still has more supporters than detractors among the general public. It's a separate discussion as to why this is, but I wonder what would happen if the tide turned and more and more people came out against it? Given that the LDP is very close to bombproof at the polls, they probably wouldn't care, but if it got to the point where capital punishment became a really politically divisive topic, maybe there would at least be some kind of movement towards abolishing it. Or maybe not...
NCIS Reruns
I suppose the real question is, what does society do with incorrigible psychotics who would kill again without hesitation if ever allowed to go free? If reform is possible, then how long should punishment be meted out? The current system is binary and not set up to deal with individual peculiarities. Still, I think it's a healthy sign that we, as members of society, don't mind being confronted with these things. Look at the appeal of movies like the Shawshank Redemption, especially the scene where Morgan Freeman sits before the parole board and reflects on a murder he committed 40 years earlier.
noriahojanen
Putting aside the validity of capital punishment, it's a negligence in procedure. By criminal law in Japan, Justice Minister shall sign the order of execution, or the death-row inmate shall be executed within 6 months after the case is finalised. In most cases, the ministry hasn't followed the instructions; otherwise the inmates can beware of the timetable even though they have no notification at the very last moment.
Mr Kipling
Wallace..
Really? eyes gouged? fingernails pulled out? waterboarding?
No TV is not torture, though many of these inmates HAVE committed torture on THEIR victims.
A bed, food and air to breath until they are put out of their misery is all they need.
Your sympathy for deranged killers is touching, try having a thought for the victims and their family.
Simon Foston
Mr KiplingSep. 23 08:35 pm JST
The punishment is getting killed. Apart from that do they need to be treated worse than other prisoners?
virusrex
Not knowing if you are going to have another day of life, every day, for years is torture, not being able to have any contact with any other person except guards is torture,
You would think people would prefer their governments to have at least a little bit higher moral standards than criminals. Unfortunately, for some it is acceptable to have their governments act on the same level as the criminals as long as they can have people they hate killed legally.
wallace
The death row systems operate separately from the general prison system and operate under their own rules which until recently were difficult to obtain.
wallace
Mr Kipling
The living conditions are less than basic and include torture.
Prisoners sentenced to death spend almost the whole day in their cells. They must remain seated and cannot move without the guards' permission. From waking to the evening inspection, they may not speak, make any noise, walk around their cell or look around.
https://www.prison-insider.com/en/articles/japon-conditions-de-detention-des-condamnes-a-mort#:~:text=Activities%20and%20work.,their%20cell%20or%20look%20around.
Basic humanity would be a good beginning.
Humane treatment
The inmates are sentenced to death. The ultimate penalty.
It does not mean that I have no empathy for the victims and their families.
wallace
Mr Kipling
The inhumane treatment of death row inmates does not honor the names of the victims.
ebisen
They get water, two meals a day, a bath a week, place to sleep and a toilet. They get books to read. I think the basic humanity needs are fulfilled.
Simon Foston
ebisenToday 09:23 am JST
Explain the purpose and value of making them sit silently in solitary confinement all day. If they're already sentenced to die I can't think of a good reason for it.
USNinJapan2
carpslidy
No, I wouldn't because I'm rational. I would feel anger and wish I could kill the murderer myself, but it wouldn't change the fact that one murder doesn't justify another, state administered or otherwise. This is precisely why the death penalty is immoral. How anyone other than the victim feels is immaterial in the dispensing of justice. Justifying capital punishment because it satisfies a want or need of someone other than the victim is not justice. It's revenge.
wallace
ebisen
Basic humanity would be a good beginning.
Prisoners sentenced to death spend almost the whole day in their cells. They must remain seated and cannot move without the guards' permission. From waking to the evening inspection, they may not speak, make any noise, walk around their cell or look around.
https://www.prison-insider.com/en/articles/japon-conditions-de-detention-des-condamnes-a-mort#:~:text=Activities%20and%20work.,their%20cell%20or%20look%20around.
Simon Foston
USNinJapan2Today 11:27 am JST
carpslidy
The best justifications for it, whether you accept them or not, are that it punishes lawbreakers, it deters others from committing the same crime (highly debatable) and that it eliminates the risk of dangerous and violent offenders killing again. It has little to do with victims' families although there seems to be a lot of self-righteous harping-on about that from commenters who I'm assuming didn't personally know or were related to any murder victims.
virusrex
All of which can be done with imprisonment without problem, with the added bonus that it does not require for the government to contradict itself by killing people to say it is not justified to kill people (?)
Appeal to emotion is not an argument, the government should be at a higher moral level than the criminals, so it is not justified to do something unethical for no actual reason when a much more ethical option is as effective if not more.
iron man
The living conditions of the death row inmates are worse than what would be allowed for animals.
Is that animals being delivered to the abattoir being readied for human's bellies, when most of them are only guilty of chewing grass on polluting the atmosphere? most of the criminals are held for a long time, allowing for reflection before finalising the sentence, Yep many western nations thru death sentence out to support their nancy state state policies. (shame). It is not a revenge killing, has anybody bothered to research the frequency of repeat offenders? it removes an undesirable and should be a deterrent to any premeditated events. Yep if anybody ever did my family members when I was younger... a cage with the two of us! but time ages people. How many nations that abolished the death penalty called a national referendum with past family victims getting bonus votes??
wallace
It is well-known and authored that not all families of murder victims support the death penalty.