Japan executes 4 convicted murderers amid concerns about justice system

Japan executed four convicted murderers Thursday in a marked acceleration of hangings amid rising international concern about the fairness of the country's secretive justice system.

The round of executions was the third since December, when the Justice Ministry first started disclosing the identities of those hanged and details of their crimes.

Japan is one of the few industrialized countries that continue to impose capital punishment. It has executed 10 criminals in the past six months under Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama, an outspoken supporter of the death penalty. In comparison, only one inmate was executed in 2005.

Hatoyama, who took office last August, denied his ministry was purposely picking up the pace of hangings. Three men were executed in December, and three more in February.

"I just carry out executions solemnly as justice minister in response to what the law requires," Hatoyama told reporters.

Human rights activists have long attacked Japan's criminal justice system. Critics say it relies too heavily on confessions extracted in lengthy - and allegedly abusive - interrogation sessions.

The death penalty system has also faced criticism. The condemned can wait many years for execution, and hangmen come to their cells to take them to the gallows without advance notice. Families are called after the fact to collect the bodies.

The criticism of secrecy in the justice system led the ministry to begin announcing the names of the executed and details of their crimes for the first time late last year.

Before that the ministry would simply announce the number of people executed after the sentences were carried out, without giving details. Prior to 1998, the government would only announce the total number of executions at the end of the year.

While still low, the number of executions in Japan has increased sharply in recent years. Four people were executed in 2006 and nine last year. So far this year, seven have been executed - far ahead of last year's pace.

"We protest today's executions," Amnesty International Japan said in a statement. "Today's executions were conducted about two months after the previous ones. This shows that the ministry is aiming at accelerating the pace of executions and executing inmates in large numbers."

The men executed Thursday were all convicted murderers.

Japan now has 104 inmates on death row after Thursday's executions, according to the ministry. Despite international criticism of Japan's death penalty, there is little opposition to the policy domestically.

James Morton
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