[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

March 25



RUSSIA:

Russian Duma Deputies Propose Death Penalty for Terrorists


A number of Russian Duma deputies have proposed a bill that would introduce the 
death penalty for terrorism-related crimes, the Kommersant newspaper reported 
Friday.

The bill was introduced by A Just Russia political party leader Sergei Mironov 
and two other deputies.

"The goal of rehabilitation for such criminals ... cannot be achieved, and the 
punishment has to be adequate to the threat their deeds pose to society and 
serve as a warning [to others]," Mironov said in a statement published on the 
party's website.

Although a provision in Russia's Criminal Code allows capital punishment for 
serious crimes, a moratorium has been in place since 1996.

In 2009, the Constitutional Court extended the moratorium and ruled that no 
court in the country has the right to sentence anyone to death.

(source: The Moscow Times)






JAPAN:

2 hanged as chilling executions continue


The Japanese authorities' reprehensible execution of 2 people today, continues 
to place the country on the wrong side of history, Amnesty International said.

Yasutoshi Kamata, a 75-year-old-man, was hanged in Osaka Detention Centre on 
Friday morning. Junko Yoshida, 56, was hanged in the early hours of Friday 
morning at Fukuoka Detention Centre, in southern Japan. Yoshida is the first 
woman to be executed in Japan since 2012.

"These disgraceful executions demonstrate a failure of leadership by Prime 
Minister Shinzo Abe," said Hiroka Shoji, East Asia Researcher at Amnesty 
International.

"It is long overdue for Japan to abolish this ultimate cruel and inhumane 
punishment."

The executions are the 1st to be carried out in Japan in 2016, and takes the 
total number of executions under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's current government 
to 16.

Junko Yoshida was sentenced to death in 2010 for the murder of two people, in 
1998 and 1999. Yasutoshi Kamata's death sentence was confirmed in 2005, after 
he was convicted of the murders of five people between 1985 and 1994.

Japan is among a small, shrinking minority of countries around the world that 
continue to execute people. As of today, 102 countries - more than 1/2 of the 
world's countries have fully abolished thedeath penalty, and 140 countries 
globally have abolished the death penalty in law or practice.

The Japanese government maintains that the continued use of executions is 
supported by public opinion and acts as deterrent for serious crimes.

"The Japanese authorities' willingness to continue with executions means the 
country is out of step with the majority of the world, as more and more 
countries abandon this cruel punishment," said Hiroka Shoji.

"There is no evidence that the death penalty is any more of a deterrent to 
violent crime than imprisonment."

Amnesty International has called on Japan to immediately introduce a moratorium 
on executions, as a 1st step towards abolition of the death penalty.

Background

Executions in Japan are shrouded in secrecy with prisoners typically given only 
a few hours' notice, but some may be given no warning at all. Their families, 
lawyers and the public are usually notified about the execution only after it 
has taken place.

Secret executions are in contravention of international standards on the use of 
the death penalty. This and the lack of other adequate legal safeguards for 
those facing the death penalty in Japan has been widely criticized by UN 
experts.

This includes defendants being denied adequate legal counsel and a lack of a 
mandatory appeal process for capital cases. Several prisoners with mental and 
intellectual disabilities are also known to have been executed or remain on 
death row.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception, 
regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime, the guilt, innocence or 
other characteristics of the offender or the method used by the state to carry 
out the execution. The death penalty violates the right to life and is the 
ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.

(source: Amnesty International)