UN
condemns Japan's execution of 3 prisoners
GENEVA
(AP) -- The U.N.'s top human rights official criticized
Japan on Monday for executing three convicted murderers.
Louise Arbour, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights,
said the three were executed "suddenly and without advance
warning to either the convicts or their families."
"This practice is problematic under international law and I
call on Japan to reconsider its approach," she said.
Two prisoners were hanged in Tokyo and another was executed
in the western city of Osaka last Friday, according to
Japan's Justice Ministry.
Arbour said she was particularly dismayed by the execution
of a 75-year-old prisoner.
"It is difficult to see what legitimate purpose is served
by carrying out such executions of the elderly," she said
in a statement. "At the very least, on humanitarian
grounds, I would urge Japan to refrain from such action."
Arbour noted Japan's decision to release the names of the
executed men, breaking with the traditional policy of
secrecy surrounding executions in the country.
Japan has routinely faced criticism by human rights
activists for keeping details of its executions secret.
Until November 1998, the ministry only provided the number
of executions in annual statistics.
Arbour said countries have a legal obligation to ensure
strict safeguards in their use of the death penalty. It is
widely accepted that executions should not be carried out
in secret and without forewarning, which may amount to
inhuman punishment and treatment under international law,
she said.
Japan is one of the last industrialized nations to retain
the death penalty, and Arbour urged it to join "the growing
number of countries that have implemented a moratorium on
executions or banned the practice altogether."
The Justice Ministry's latest available data show 104 more
convicts remain on death row