Two inmates on death row have filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government after their lawyer argued that being notified only hours before they are executed is “extremely inhumane.”
Inhumane practice: The two death row inmates filed the suit in a district court in Osaka, demanding change and compensation for 22 million yen (approximately $194,000), lawyer Yutaka Ueda said, according to Reuters.
- Prisoners on death row in Japan are executed by hanging, and they are notified their sentence will be carried out on the same day.
- Human rights groups such as Amnesty International have been fighting for change for years, but this is reportedly the first time inmates have sued.
Mental health: Ueda believes the practice to be illegal because inmates don’t have enough time to appeal the ruling.
- “Death row prisoners live in fear every morning that that day will be their last,” Ueda said.
- “The central government has said this is meant to keep prisoners from suffering before their execution, but that’s no explanation. Overseas, prisoners are given time to contemplate the end of their lives and mentally prepare.”
- Japan has more than 100 people on death row but none have been executed in over two years.
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