Japan death row 'breeds insanity'

[Heidi]

Source: BBC

Page last updated at 01:14 GMT, Thursday, 10 September 2009 02:14 UK

Prisoners on death row in Japan are being driven towards insanity by harsh conditions, according to human rights group Amnesty International.

The group is calling for an immediate moratorium on all further executions and for police interrogation reform.

A total of 102 prisoners face execution in Japan. Many of them are elderly and have spent decades in near isolation.

International human rights standards prohibit the imposition of the death penalty on the mentally ill.

In Japan, where criminal trials have a 99% conviction rate, the death penalty has wide public support.



Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8247319.stm

[tblue]

1. Ewwww! Wow. Who knew?

That's hideous. I never heard anything about this before! Thanks for the post. That's really disturbing and surprising coming from such a sophisticated, educated, relatively thriving society.

[izquierdista]

4. A conformist society

Pressure to conform to societal norms there is MUCH higher than in the US.

[dysfunctional press]

5. it pretty much has to be that way...

when you have so many people in such limited space, with limited resources- society has to have more order.

we'll get there too, eventually.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

2. It is really, really, really weird

The death penalty in Japan is administered entirely at the whim of the present justice minister and their personal thoughts on capital punishment. Who of the condemned are executed it is almost completely random - some being executed relatively swiftly, others only after decades and most never.

Before dying of natural causes there was a guy who had been on death row since the mid-50's

[HamdenRice]

3. I had no idea Japan still had a death penalty ! nt

[Arugula Latte]

6. Me too! That really surprised me.

I thought we were the only "developed" country with that sorry distinction.

[davepc]

7. 99% conviction rate?!

[Lucy Goosey]

8. I know, that shocked me, too

It doesn't seem like it could possibly be entirely legit, does it?

[Art_from_Ark]

10. I think their conviction rate stems in part from the make-up of the court

(no jury trials, only a 3-judge panel, so no emotional courtroom scenes) and part from pre-trial confessions (I am surprised at the number of Japanese suspects who confess to a crime after they're arrested).

[HamdenRice]

11. Actually, it means they don't falsely accuse a lot of people, like we do here

There isn't a black and brown population to falsely accuse and process through the prison industrial complex. When they bring a case, the person is almost always guilty.

[davepc]

13. Of course, because we all know there is no racism in Japan.

Japan racism 'deep and profound'

An independent investigator for the UN says racism in Japan is deep and profound, and the government does not recognise the depth of the problem.

Doudou Diene, a UN special rapporteur on racism and xenophobia, was speaking at the end of a nine-day tour of the country.

He said Japan should introduce new legislation to combat discrimination.

Mr Diene travelled to several Japanese cities during his visit, meeting minority groups and touring slums.

He said that although the government helped to organise his visit, he felt many officials failed to recognise the seriousness of the racism and discrimination minorities suffered.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4671687.stm

[HamdenRice]

16. Of course there is racism. There just aren't very many people to be racist against.

Comparing the role of race in our criminal justice system favorably to the role it plays in Japan is frankly ridiculous.

What percentage of Japan's Korean or Ainu population are in prison?

[slackmaster]

15. The blame a lot of their crimes on Americans

Black, white, brown, red, green, or whatever.

[Libertas1776]

9. Not only do they have the death penalty

but I believe their modus operandi for executions is still hanging. That's right, a short drop and a sudden stop, hanging. :wtf:

[zelta gaisma]

12. Yeah but look at the crime .......

statistics there VS here. From what I understand they have very little crime compared to us.

[slackmaster]

14. Crime rates are low, but part of the reason is they don't count crimes they attribute to foreigners

My brother and his wife witnessed it first-hand. (He's in the Navy and was stationed there once.)

Someone broke into the house they were renting. Some cash and jewelry was stolen. They called the local police.

Cops showed up, wearing their white gloves. After a few minutes the senior cop said to my sister-in-law:

"I'm sorry, but we cannot investigate this incident. The burglar was not Japanese."

"How do you know that?", she asked.

Gesturing to the floor, he said "Look at this footprint. A Japanese burglar would have removed his shoes before breaking in."

No official crime report was filed.

[HamdenRice]

17. That's truly hilarious. I guess those cops hadn't seen many Yakuza movies.

I remember taking a course in Japanese legal culture decades ago, and although I don't remember anything about capital punishment, I do remember a bit about the rest of the justice system. (We actually focused much more on the role of law in history and public policy.)

Police in Japan are looked down on as being of the same "class" as Yakuza, and as a result there is some fraternization between the two groups.

The idea that Yakuza would take off their shoes before stealing is pretty funny.