Japan opened up the secretive world of its capital punishment system to the public today, offering journalists a rare tour of Tokyo’s main gallows.
The move is being seen as an effort to stoke debate about a practice widely supported there.
All executions in Japan are carried out by hanging, and no media coverage of executions is permitted. Inmates on death row do not know when they will be executed until the last minute, while family members and lawyers are only told afterwards.
Despite persistent criticism by rights groups such as Amnesty International and the main Japanese bar association, there is little public outcry against capital punishment in Japan, where recent government surveys showed more than 80 per cent support ratings.
But the media tour at the Tokyo Detention Centre - broadcast on major TV stations - appears to be driven by justice minister Keiko Chiba, who opposes the death penalty. “This reporting opportunity was provided as part of the national debate about the death penalty system, and I think it will become one of the elements in this debate,” Ms Chiba said.
In July, Ms Chiba approved - and witnessed - the hangings of two inmates convicted of murder, saying she was carrying out her duties as justice minister.
Afterwards, she said she still supported abolishing capital punishment, and as a way to spur public debate, ordered journalists be given a tour of the facilities, which Japanese press said was the first since at least the end of the second World War. She also promised to create a ministry panel to discuss the death penalty, including whether it should be stopped.
Of the more than 30 people who have been hanged since January 2006, five were in their 70s. It is not unheard of for some inmates to be ferried to the gallows in wheelchairs.
Japanese TV news channels today showed footage from the tour, including the execution room, where a red square marked the trapdoor where the condemned stands. Foreign press were barred from the visit despite repeated requests for access.
Even the exact location of the execution site is a secret. According to media accounts, the reporters were taken on a bus with curtains closed so the location couldn’t be identified.
The tour was led to a room decorated with a Buddha statue before reaching the death chamber, separated by a curtain. The hanging rope was removed from the ceiling-mounted pulley and the trapdoor was closed.
TV footage showed a small room next to the chamber where three executioners simultaneously push a button so none knows who activated the trapdoor.
Japan has a 99 per cent conviction rate - a number that hasn’t changed even after the country introduced a jury system for serious cases tried at district courts.
So far none of the jury trials have involved death penalty cases, but some people, including those who served as jurors, have expressed concerns about serving on such cases.
Anti-execution lawyer Yoshihiro Yasuda has accused Ms Chiba of trading two lives for the opportunity to stir public debate. “Execution is murder. It’s wrong to use the execution to promote review of the death penalty,” he said. “I’m afraid that a public viewing could instead justify the cause, depending on its presentation.”
A series of false convictions that surfaced in recent months have also raised concerns. Recently, a 63-year-old man sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a four-year-old girl was released after DNA tests showed he was innocent.
AP