URGENT ACTION APPEAL
---------------------------------- 14 June 2004 UA 199/04 Fear of imminent execution JAPAN HAMADA Takeshige (m), born 1927 NATA Kousaku (m), born 1950 MAKINO Tadashi (m), born 1950 IKEMOTO Noboru (m), born 1933 MATSUBARA Masahiki (m), born 1944 Over 50 other death row prisoners, names not known The five men named above, who are on death row in Fukuoka and Osaka, have had their appeals for retrial rejected, and are likely to face execution before the end of June. All were convicted of murder between 1982 and 1990. A further 50 prisoners have had their death sentences finalized, and could be executed at any time. The authorities often schedule executions to coincide with parliamentary recesses or elections, or public holidays, to minimize public and parliamentary criticism. The Diet (parliament) will begin its summer recess on 17 June. The Minister of Justice, Nozawa Daizo, is reportedly not standing for re-election, and is therefore likely to resign shortly before the 11 July elections to the House of Councilors (Upper House). He has recently expressed concern about a breakdown in public order in Japan, and cited public opinion in its favor as a factor making it difficult to abolish the death penalty in Japan. There is concern that he could sign execution orders before he resigns, as he has not ordered any executions since he was appointed on 22 September 2003. The last execution in Japan took place on 12 September 2003, days before the former Minister of Justice was replaced: a 42- year-old mentally ill man, Mukai Shinji, was put to death. BACKGROUND INFORMATION A delegation from Amnesty International Japan, and some members of the Diet who are opposed to the death penalty, met the Minister of Justice in late May 2004. The Minister said that it was difficult to abolish the death penalty, on the grounds that the situation of public order in Japan is growing worse and the majority of the Japanese people are in favor of the death penalty. However, this claim is based on government surveys that contain questions loaded in favor of the death penalty. More importantly, there was neither significant opposition nor any sign of an increase in crime in Japan during the de facto moratorium on executions between 1989 and 1993. The application of the death penalty in Japan is arbitrary and cruel. Executions, by hanging, are carried out without the knowledge of families or lawyers, and apparently in an arbitrary manner: they are scheduled so as to prevent parliamentary or media scrutiny by coinciding with parliamentary recesses in summer and winter, or national holidays. Usually the Minister of Justice signs the execution order on a Monday and the executions are carried out on the following Thursday or Friday. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases. The death penalty constitutes a violation of right to life and is the ultimate form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible: - expressing concern that the five men named above, and over 50 other death row prisoners, are at risk of imminent execution; - urging the Japanese government to ensure that no executions are carried out during the parliamentary recess; - calling for an immediate moratorium on all executions pending the abolition of the death penalty in Japanese law; - calling on the Japanese government to ratify the Second Optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which aims at the abolition of the death penalty, which is the ultimate form of cruel and inhuman punishment. APPEALS TO: Prime Minister KOIZUMI Junichiro Prime Minister's Office 2-3-1 Nagata-cho, Chiyoda-ku Tokyo 100-0014, Japan Fax: 011 81 3 3581 3883 E-mail: [email protected] OR through the following URL: http://www.iijnet.or.jp/sorifu/kantei/for eign/comment.html Salutation: Dear Prime Minister Minister NOZAWA Daizo Minister of Justice, Ministry of Justice 1-1-1 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku Tokyo 100-8977, Japan Fax: 011 81 3 3592 7088 011 81 3 5511 7200 (via Public Information & Foreign Liaison Office) E-mail: [email protected] Salutation: Dear Minister COPIES TO: National newspaper: Asahi Shimbun 5-3-2 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-8011, Japan Fax: 011 81 3 3545 0285/3593 0438 Email: [email protected] English-language newspaper: Japan Times 5-4 Shibaura 4-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0023, Japan Central P.O. Box 144, 352, Tokyo 100-8691, Japan E-mail: [email protected] National newspaper: Yomiuri Shimbun 1-7-1 Ohtemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0004, Japan Fax: 011 81 3 3245 1277 011 81 3 3581 0434 011 81 3 3279 6324 011 81 3 3217 8247 (newsroom) Email: [email protected] [email protected] (newsroom) Ambassador Ryozo Kato Embassy of Japan 2520 Massachusetts Ave. NW Washington DC 20008 Fax: 1 202 328 2187 Email:[email protected] Please send appeals immediately. Check with the Colorado office between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm, Mountain Time, weekdays only, if sending appeals after 26 June 2004. Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human rights. This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal. Urgent Action Network Amnesty International USA PO Box 1270 Nederland CO 80466-1270 Email: [email protected] http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/ Phone: 303 258 1170 Fax: 303 258 7881 ---------------------------------- END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL ----------------------------------
