3
death row inmates executed
August
23, 2007
(Mainichi)
Three
death row inmates were executed at Tokyo and Nagoya
detention centers on Thursday, Justice Ministry officials
said.
Sources close to the case identified the three as Hifumi
Takezawa, 69, and Yoshio Iwamoto, 63, who had been detained
at the Tokyo Detention Center, and Kozo Segawa, 60, at the
Nagoya Detention Center.
The executions bring the total number of convicts who have
been hanged since Justice Minister Jinen Nagase assumed the
post in September last year to 10. Death row convicts are
executed on orders of the justice minister.
Thursday's executions reduced the number of death row
inmates in Japan to 103.
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Japan
hangs 3 inmates for murders
By
CHISAKI WATANABE
Associated
Press Writer
TOKYO (AP) -- Japan executed three inmates, an official
said Thursday, prompting condemnation from human rights
activists.
The three were hanged Thursday, according to a justice
ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity
citing policy. He refused to disclose the names of the
executed.
Kyodo News agency identified the three as Hifumi Takezawa,
69, Yoshio Iwamoto, 63, and Kozo Segawa, 60. The three had
been convicted of multiple murders, and Iwamoto and Segawa
were also convicted of robberies, according to Amnesty
International Japan.
Japan is one of the few industrialized nations that retains
the death penalty. The government is routinely criticized
by human rights activists for the extreme secrecy
surrounding the executions, which are conducted by hanging.
"We strongly condemn the executions," Amnesty International
Japan said in a statement. "We hope Japan will ... take a
step in the near future toward abolishing the death
penalty, which is an extreme form of human violation."
Four men were executed on Christmas Day under Justice
Minister Jinen Nagase. In April, three more were executed.
Thursday's executions bring the number under Nagase to 10 -
the highest since 1993, when executions resumed after a
moratorium of more than three years, according to Amnesty
International Japan.
Executions are often carried out when parliament is not in
session or on Fridays. Critics say that is meant to avoid
fueling public debates on the death penalty, which has been
abolished in many developed countries except for Japan and
the United States.
Thursday's executions came as parliament was in recess.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to reshuffle his
Cabinet next week.
It is believed that 104 inmates are currently on death row
in Japan.