Thirteen members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult found guilty of carrying out the gas attack in the Tokyo subway in 1995 are at imminent risk of execution. The Japanese Minister of Justice is under pressure from other ministers to carry out executions before 2012. This means the cult members, and indeed all other death row inmates, are at risk of imminent execution.
On 21 November, the sentence of the last of the Aum Shinrikyo cult members, Seiichi Endo, was finalized. Typically executions of death row inmates are postponed if proceedings against accomplices are still on-going. The completion of Seiichi Endo’s case means that the other cult members who have been prosecuted and sentenced to death are now at risk of execution. They were found guilty for their respective roles in orchestrating and carrying out the gas attack, including murder, kidnapping, and experimenting with chemical and biological weapons.
Chizuo Matsumoto (aka Shoko Asahara), the leader of the cult who has been on death row since 2006, is appealing for a second retrial. He is suspected of suffering from mental illness. In his previous appeal in 2004, his defence lawyers requested a psychiatric evaluation. Six psychiatrists found his mental health has declined as a result of his imprisonment. The Tokyo appeal Court dismissed the findings stating that Chizuo Matsumoto was feigning illness. There are no safeguards to prevent an execution from taking place at any time after a sentence has been finalized, including while appeals for retrial are underway.
The Minister of Justice is under heavy pressure to carry out executions before 2012. Executions have been carried out in Japan for the past 19 consecutive years. Death row inmates are usually only informed hours before their execution, and their families told only afterwards. Amnesty International believes Chizuo Matsumoto is at particular risk but all other death row inmates are at risk during this time of increased pressure to carry out executions.
Japan is a modern and progressive country with an impeccable penal system that respects human rights. It is an original G8 country. To include a system of justice that includes the death penalty as a way of punishment only tarnishes the Japanese ideals, images and believes of modern Japan.
Japan should introduce a moratorium on executions with a view to full abolition of the death penalty in Japan. If the Government of Japan resists temptation to move forward on abolition, Japan may find it difficult to leverage with any countries where there are abuses of human rights issues.
