JURIST - Hotline: Japan must follow Human Rights Committee death penalty recommendations

Maiko Tagusari [researcher on penal system reform, Japan Federation of Bar Associations]: "In its Concluding Observations, the UN Human Rights Committee made it clear that Japan is going against the requirements under the Covenant and is strongly required to end its continuous and expanded usage of the death penalty.

At the end of the session, Mr. Rivas Posada, President of HRC, stated that the Committee members felt frustrated during the review of Japan. Actually, despite the fact that both death sentences and executions are drastically increasing in recent years, the government just repeated its official position that since Japan's death penalty system is very cautiously operated and supported strongly by public opinion, it should not be abolished. On the other hand, the government never answered the questions posed by the HRC members such as, "Is the government prepared to provide the information on problematic aspects of the death penalty or desirability of its abolition with the public?" or "Does the fact that many death sentences become finalized without exhausting the right of appeal show that using this right is actually difficult for the prisoners?"

On top of the lack of dialogue with the Committee, it is safe to say that the executions of two death row prisoners which were carried out just after the session infuriated the Committee. It is true that abolishing the death penalty is not easy for a retentionist country, however, the government should and can take any necessary measures to limit its usage, as seen in practices in the U.S. or even in China, which has already introduced the system of mandatory review by the Supreme People's Court. Now it is a responsibility of Japanese civil society, including bar associations, to disseminate and fully utilize the recommendations made by HRC, with introduction of a totally new Lay Judge System close at hand."