Japan Press Weekly

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2022 November 16 - 22 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Japan is only OECD country carrying out execution of death penalty

Among OECD member states, Japan is the only country that carries out the execution of the death penalty. The Justice Ministry admitted to this fact on November 17 in its reply to a question from Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Nihi Sohei.

At a House of Councilors Judicial Affairs Committee meeting on the day, JCP Nihi pointed out that more and more countries in the world have decided to abolish the death penalty from the standpoint of respect for human life. Refuting Nihi, Justice Minister Saito Ken said, “I think it is premature at this stage to put an end to the use of the death penalty in Japan. Many people still recognize that capital punishment should exist,” showing his view that runs counter to the present world trend.

Nihi pointed out that since 2017 in Japan, 19 death-row inmates were executed although they filed petitions for retrials of their cases, and demanded an explanation why the executions were carried out in disregard of the 19 prisoners’ requests for retrials. Justice Ministry’s Criminal Affairs Bureau Chief Kawahara Ryuji refused to give a clear answer.

Nihi said, “It is unacceptable to carry out the execution of the death penalty only with the Justice Minister’s decision without disclosing information regarding the process of making a decision to sign an execution order.” He asked Saito about the Justice Minister’s responsibility to put a seal of approval on the execution.

Only a week ago, Saito’s predecessor was forced to resign after making a joke about the justice minister’s role in authorizing executions.

Past related articles:
> Justice Minister resigns due to his gaffes over death penalty [November 12, 2022]
> JCP Koike criticizes Justice minister for making joke of his authority to execute death sentence [November 11, 2022]