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Japanese Justice Minister May Halt Executions

Execution chamber
at Tokyo's Detention Center
July 29, 2011: Japanese Justice Minister Satsuki Eda indicated his intention not to authorize the execution of death row inmates for the time being in an exclusive interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun, one year after the last death sentences were carried out on July 28, 2010.

Considering the Justice Ministry has been discussing the future of the death penalty system, "It's very unlikely [that I will] enforce it," Eda said.

According to the ministry, 107 inmates remained on death row following the last execution. Since then, the number of death row inmates has risen to 120.

The ministry launched an internal study group in August to discuss the death penalty, including the possibility of abolishing it. The group is still reviewing points of the argument.

"Human beings are rational creatures. I think it's wrongheaded to claim that taking the life of a person is the expression of a rational nature," Eda told The Yomiuri Shimbun.

"I'm considering how to exercise the authority given to the Justice Minister, keeping in mind the global trend [to eliminate the death penalty]," Eda added.

The Criminal Procedure Code stipulates that execution of inmates on death row should take place within six months of a death sentence. However, executions are not conducted as long as the Justice Minister has not signed the order of execution.

The death sentences of two men were enforced on July 28, 2010, based on orders by then Justice Minister Keiko Chiba. They were the last cases of the death penalty being imposed to date.

Source: Yomiuri.co.jp, Hands Off Cain, July 29, 2011

Related articles:

Aug 27, 2010
The move came a month after Justice Minister Keiko Chiba, an opponent of capital punishment, announced a review of the practice after she witnessed the first executions since her centre-left government took power almost a year ago. ...
Jul 29, 2010
2 death-row inmates were hanged at a Tokyo detention center on July 28 under orders from Justice Minister Keiko Chiba, marking the 1st time since the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) rose to power that Japan has carried out executions. ...
Sep 17, 2009
Death penalty opponent Keiko Chiba made Japanese Justice Minister. The new Japanese Government has in effect suspended the death penalty by appointing an outspoken opponent of capital punishment as Justice Minister. ...
Jul 28, 2010
Japan hanged 2 death row inmates in the 1st execution under the Democratic Party of Japan government launched last September, Justice Minister Keiko Chiba (pictured below) told a press conference Wednesday. The 2 are Kazuo Shinozawa, ...
Aug 01, 2010
Justice Minister Keiko Chiba, a human rights lawyer who used to be a member of a Diet members' league for the abolition of the death penalty, ordered the executions. Moreover, she witnessed them — probably the first justice minister to ...
Sep 20, 2010
In July, Justice Minister Keiko Chiba signed execution orders for 2 death row inmates and then attended their hangings. Many people were puzzled because Chiba, an attorney, had been opposed to the death penalty. ...

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