Year
How to use the database
HANDS OFF CAIN’S 2015 REPORT
The worldwide situation (as of 30 June 2016)
EXECUTIONS IN 2014
EXECUTIONS IN 2015 (as of 30 June)
The most important facts of 2015 (and the first six months of 2016)
ADDRESS of Pope Francis
THE SMILING FACE OF THE MULLAHS
Reportage by Sergio D'Elia
ANALYSIS OF THE 2015 REPORT DATA AND OBJECTIVES OF HANDS OFF CAIN
Reportage by Marco Perduca
"THE ABOLITIONIST OF THE YEAR 2015” AWARD
Protocol of understanding between NTC and CNF
Dossier on death penalty and homosexuality
Final declaration of the Cairo workshop
Goals
Achievements
GENERAL MOTION OF THE FIFTH CONGRESS OF HOC
RESOLUTION OF THE KIGALI CONFERENCE
U.N. RESOLUTION 2014

U.N. RESOLUTION 2012
U.N. RESOLUTION 2010

REPORT ON THE 2ND ANNUAL EU FORUM ON THE DEATH PENALTY IN ZAMBIA

Videos

DECLARATION OF LIBREVILLE

Publications
Hands Off Cain Headquarters
U.N. RESOLUTION 2008

U.N. RESOLUTION 2007

Appeal To The United Nations
Board of Directors

LETHAL TRADE DOSSIER
2014 FREETOWN CONFERENCE Final Declaration
THE COTONOU DECLARATION 2014
DOSSIER IRAQ 2003

DOSSIER ON MORATORIUM
DOSSIER IRAQ 2012

DOSSIER USA 2011

NOBEL LAUREATES APPEAL
Bulletin Board
Sign up
Join appeal
Newsletter
Our Publications

DEATH ROW PRISONERS LAUNCH LEGAL CHALLENGE TO JAPAN’S NO-NOTICE EXECUTIONS

October 25, 2022:

Two prisoners sentenced to death in Japan have launched a legal challenge against how the country applies the death penalty, Vatican News reported on 24 October 2022.
Japan gives prisoners on death row only one or two hours' notice of their hanging, a policy that authorities say safeguards the prisoner’s “emotional stability.”
Campaigners say it deprives prisoners of their legal rights, as well as the chance to say goodbye to family or receive Church ministry.
The case, brought by two anonymous death row prisoners in Osaka district court, contains harrowing testimony.
“When the prison officer opens the door of the prisoner’s room and announces the execution, the prisoner is immediately detained and taken to the place of execution,” the case quotes death row prisoner Hiroshi Sakaguchi as writing to lawyers. “The prisoner is tied up, handcuffed, and taken to the execution table in the same clothes, where he is hanged with a noose. … We, the condemned, are not allowed to object to the execution.”
Other testimony takes the form of an audio tape recorded in 1955, which shows the final hours of an unnamed prisoner at a time when notice periods were longer. In the tape, the man receives three days’ notice of his upcoming execution and spends the time making affectionate farewells to inmates and his visiting sister, who sobs. The tape includes sound of the man being hanged as Buddhist priests chant sutras.
Japan now has tightened the notice period to one to two hours, giving prisoners insufficient time to contact anyone outside the prison or even to reflect on their upcoming death.
Takeshi Kaneko, a lawyer acting in Osaka for the two anonymous prisoners, says the policy is wrong.
“If you give notice on the day, you can’t prepare well,” Kaneko said. “It’s only due to the convenience of the authorities that they let the prisoner know on the morning of the day. That is a mistake.”
Moreover, the policy denies prisoners the chance to contact a lawyer, and therefore the right of appeal. At least one prisoner was executed while an appeal was underway.
Japan’s Justice Ministry has never said why or when it adopted immediate executions. It says only the policy ensures the prisoner’s “emotional stability.”
Campaigners believe it may be an attempt to prevent suicide. One death-row inmate killed himself in 1975, and the policy may date from that time.
The uncertainty points to the secrecy surrounding executions in Japan.
The Justice Ministry announces a prisoner’s name and conviction but nothing else, citing non-disclosure and privacy rules. Some prisoners are held for more than a decade on death row before being killed on an apparently arbitrary date.
The secrecy means there is almost no public debate in Japan about the death penalty or how it is applied. Campaigners believe many people are even unaware that all prisoners are hanged, a policy unchanged since the 19th century.
“Since only two pieces of information are disclosed by the authorities, this is a situation in which it is impossible to discuss the death penalty system,” Kaneko said.
The current court case does not seek to overthrow the death penalty. The lawyers are challenging one small part of the procedure as a way to start a wider discussion.
“I’d like to ask everyone what they think about the death penalty,” Kaneko said. “Should the notice period be 30 days, 90 days, or even longer? Since there’s no discussion in Japan, we can raise awareness of the problem.”
Kaneko recommends that Japan consider following procedures in the United States, where prisoners in some states are given freedom to meet guests, write letters and eat a last meal of choice. This retains some of their dignity and offers a measure of healing.
If Japan adopted advance notice, it might allow prisoners a final tea ceremony and a chance to write haiku poetry, the Osaka court case argues.
In 1979, Japan became a member of the Covenant on Civil Liberties, which prohibits “painful and humiliating” methods of execution. The Committee on Civil Liberties, which oversees implementation of the covenant, has several times expressed concern that death row inmates are executed without prior notice, and that their families cannot prepare themselves. This, it says, is cruel.
Meanwhile, the legal team in Osaka fears retribution against the two prisoners in this court case. They could be executed any day, for an undisclosed reason.
Because of that, the court is not being told their names.

(Source: Vatican news, 24/10/2022)

USA - Alabama. Jimmy O’Neal Spencer sentenced to death
SINGAPORE: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR HEROIN TRAFFICKING
BANGLADESH: THREE SENTENCED TO DEATH IN MADARIPUR MURDER CASE
SOMALIA: MILITARY COURT EXECUTES TWO AL-SHABAAB CONVICTS
IRAN - Unidentified woman executed in Boroujerd on October 27
IRAN - Unidentified woman executed in Borujerd on October 27
USA - Texas. Robert Solis sentenced to death
IRAQ: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR ANTI-REGIME ACTIVIST'S KILLING
USA - Florida. Mark Wilson sentenced to death
IRAN - Alireza Janipour executed in Hamadan on October 25
IRAN - Iran Protests: At least 234 Including 29 Children Killed
BANGLADESH: 10 GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLING THREE CATTLE TRADERS IN BANDARBAN
IRAN - Hossein Valizadeh executed in Hamadan on October 25
IRAN - Mohammad Esfandiari executed in Barazjan on October 24
EGYPT: 9 FROM ONE FAMILY SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
USA - Florida. Death sentence, again, for Allen Cox
GHANA: JUSTICE SAMUEL ASIEDU ADVOCATES ABOLITION OF DEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 500 executed in Iran since the beginning of the year
USA - California. Scott Peterson moved off death row
IRAN - Sajjad Zainivandnejad executed in Borujerd on October 23
USA - Sept. 11 Case Awaits Biden Administration’s Reply on Plea Deal
IRAN - Yousef Faraji executed in Aligudarz on October 22
ALGERIA: JOURNALIST SENTENCED TO DEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Three Baloch prisoners executed on 22 October
INDONESIA MULLS INTRODUCTION OF A ‘PROBATIONARY’ DEATH PENALTY
USA - Oklahoma. Benjamin Cole was executed
BANGLADESH: GIRL STRANGLED TO DEATH AFTER RAPE, FOUR SENTENCED TO DEATH
USA - Louisiana. Kevin Daigle formally sentenced to death
INDIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN RAJASTHAN FOR RAPING, KILLING 10-YEAR-OLD GIRL
MALAYSIA: PARALYSED MECHANIC ESCAPES DEATH PENALTY FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING

1 2 3 [Succ >>]
2024
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2023
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2022
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2021
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2020
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
 
2019
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2018
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2017
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2016
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2015
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2014
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
 
2013
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2012
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2011
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2010
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2009
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2008
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
 
2007
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2006
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2005
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2004
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
 
IRAN - Wife of Djalali pleads for EU action
  IRAN - Hands off Cain Year End Report: At least 284 executions in 2020  
  IRAN: HANDS OFF CAIN, THE HANGING OF THE PROTESTER MOSTAFA SALEHI IS A SHAME FOR THE SO-CALLED DEMOCRATIC WORLD   
  USA: ‘BLACK LIVES MATTER’, BUT IS IT ONLY RACISM?  
  IRAN. HANDS OFF CAIN, REDUCTION OF DRUG EXECUTIONS BUT NUMBERS REMAIN WORRISOME  
  HUMAN RIGHTS: DEMONSTRATION OF THE RADICAL PARTY BEFORE IRANIAN EMBASSY 14 FEBRUARY  
news
-
latest actions
-
data base
-
actions
-
who we are
-
registered users
-
credits