Japan Death Penalty: 2 Inmates Executed Amidst Rights Group Protest

Japan's death penalty was condemned by the human rights group after two death row prisoners were executed on Friday. The death of the two inmates follows the last December execution raising the number to 16 since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's regime in 2012.

Japan's death penalty was strongly criticized by the activists who claimed that Japan was resisting the abolition of the capital punishment, The Guardian reports.  Japan reportedly misinterprets the penalty as a deterrent, the opposition added. Japan and the Unites States are the only two nations that still practice the death penalty among the G7 nations.  The execution of the two inmates comes before Japan hosts the G7 leaders' summit.

"Despite the fact that about 140 countries in the world have already abandoned or have stopped executions for more than a decade, the Japanese government is turning its back on the trend," said Hideki Wakabayashi, secretary general of Amnesty International Japan.

Yasutoshi Kamata and Junko Yoshida were the latest inmates  who were punished under Japan's death penalty.  He was sentenced to death when he murdered  five females, including a 9-year-old girl in 2005. Yoshida, a previous nurse masterminded the killing of the husbands of her two colleagues to  collect ¥67 million yen in insurance money, according to Japan Times.  It was the second time that Justice Minister Mitsuhide Iwaki signed Japan's death penalty after he took over in October last year.

"These two atrocious cases claimed the precious lives of the victims for extremely selfish reasons. I feel sorrow for those who were murdered and their families," Iwaki told a news conference. He further defended the execution claiming it is a grave punishment that requires careful implementation, reported by The Daily Star.

In December, two death row inmates were executed.  The Amnesty International Japan, a human rights group condemned the capital punishment, saying that PM Abe's office disregarded lives. After the latest death of the prisoners under Japan's death penalty, there are still 124 inmates on death row in Japan.  

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Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan death penalty, Japan execution, G7 Nations, G7 leaders summit, Amnesty International Japan

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