Anti-death penalty group gathers seeking suspension of executions

Sunday 11th October, 06:00 AM JST

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dolphingirl at 01:24 PM JST - 11th October

Personally, I'm against the death penalty for a few of reasons: First, on the principal that two wrongs don't make a right and getting revenge does not ease anyone's pain or suffering. It's just barbaric and inhumane. Secondly, it seems to me that a life sentence is a harsher punishment than death. Come to think of it, being killed is probably preferable to spending your life in prison. Finally, what about those who are wrongly convicted? The justice system is not perfect. Mistakes will happen. So, yes, I hope the death penalty is abolished in Japan.
Gloobey at 05:44 PM JST - 11th October

"... mass executions..."; Really!? I did not realize prisoners were being lined up en masses in front of a wall and being machine gunned. SAVE THE DEATH PENALTY!

I am not anxious to stereotype - though I know I am going to anyway! - but I would guess you are either American or stupid. You could, of course, be both. If murder is wrong, then it is wrong whoever commits it, be it the state or an individual. As has been said elsewhere here, it isn't justice, it's revenge. I don't want the state murdering in my name, thank you very much.
bcbrownboy at 05:45 PM JST - 11th October

only 59 countries, including Japan, continued to maintain it as of the end of 2008

And of course Japan like to take forced confessions, making it criminal to execute people.
Roppichan at 08:31 PM JST - 11th October

KallyPygous - I am with you here. 3 years ago I had the pleasure to stay at the Osaka detention center. With 7 other blokes (5 jap/1 chinese/1 korean) I stayed three month until they let me go. Actually we had a lot of fun and I learnt a lot (not only japanese but many dodgy things). Just one thing I will never forget, we could sometimes see and hear the people on death row. There was not much to see since we only knew it was death row because ordinary inmates walk with one guard only (visit e.g.) and those guys had always three with them. Then in the first week of April we heard for several nights some terrible screams and loud voices. A kitchen mate (prisoner-not detention) told us that they told a man who was sitting for 16 years in his horrible small solitary cell that this would be his last week. The guy did not scream because of fear but because of hate. They did not let him say goodbuy to his wife and his two sons. Death and Live should be in Gods hand, not in ours. I was in there because my ex called the cops and told them about my lovely plants. One guy was a chikan, another stole a bicycle, three were shabu heads, one a nice Yak and one raped 5 girls.
eresay at 11:18 PM JST - 11th October

dolphingirl you said it all! Knowing that innocent people have been wrongly executed is just too awful to consider. Imagine if that was you on death row knowing you were innocent. Fortunately the vast majority of countries are moving away from this. As Japan is decades behind the rest of the world in regard to human, womens and animal rights, it's hardly suprising but I am optimistic that they will catch up to the rest of the world one day.
diggerdog at 12:15 AM JST - 12th October

luckily japan doesnt kill as many people as the USA. Which is good news considering how it likes to extract confessions from suspects. Is video used in interrogation rooms yet? In my opinion the death penalty isnt worth it because at some point somebody who is innocent will be killed. And its amazing how many miscarriages of justice are being found each year in all our countries. If the death penalty put people off crime then america would be the safest place on the planet and its clearly not. So apart from revenge there is no point in the death penalty. So the sooner japan abolishes this the better. I think japan executes about 10-20 people a year (not sure on this) but if true then surely it cant be to hard to stop.
anjinsanjpnz at 12:19 AM JST - 12th October

the death penalty has it,s place ,these people that go on these sort of marches are probaly lovely human beings , but the evil animals who committ premeditated or aaggravated murder destroy and overturn peoples lives are not, these animals should be put down like a wild dog they are . unless you have experance first hand and seen the suffering and grief these so called humans do. like to my little girl with bruises all over her body head injuries so bad that pushed her little brain from one side of her skull to the other and boot prints on her tummy and then you drop to your knees weeping because you will never hear the laughter, feel the sweetness of her breath ,the smile in the eyes the tears running down her cheeks will just be a memory and having to make the worst decision that any parent should make turn off the life machine and watch her take her final breaths . murderers make me sick these people should have thier lives extinguished. and for people out there i remember thinking what jesus said while hanging on the cross ,one asked for forgiveness he forgave them ,but he did not say i forgive you and you can get down and be free to do what you like again . i am all for the death penalty as long as it,s 100 percent sure . when people have walked in the victims shoes ,these people may not be as keen to walk on these protests i,am with dendon
morriconelover at 07:24 AM JST - 12th October

The strongest argument these days pro death penalty is mostly about the idea of punishing those whose crimes take on a certain cruel character. But in many cases and in all countries who have death penalty, there are simply too many examples of innocents being given the death penalty. A death sentence can be given to people found guilty, but in most cases someone is just proven guilty, and not beyond reasonable doubt. There are many scientific problems regarding DNA tests, and also problems regarding witness testimonies. Both the US and Japan has experienced its share of people executed and then found innocent after they were executed. And countries who have death penalty can from a moral standpoint not afford to make these mistakes. And another problem are countries who use death penalty for political prisoners or forbidden groups.

Revenge is not a very good argument for supporting death penalty. If someone killed someone i love...yes i would be angry and feel like revenge...but i would want the killer to be locked up and away from society and i dont believe that societies can handle to have death penalty without making mistakes of killing falsely convicted people too.
mikihouse at 10:47 AM JST - 12th October

death penalty also put to death many violent and vicious people who would never respect other peoples lives. Some people tortured their victims,some they burn them alive, others were skinned to death, buried alive, raped then dissected and the list goes on. To those people who think death penalty is harsh, I hope you will not experience having your beloved family be robbed of their lives and claim for leniency for the criminal so that he can go out again and kill other people.

Death penalty is not revenge. It is simply justice.
Yelnats at 02:04 PM JST - 12th October

Chain gangs would be better than the death penalty.
bushlover at 02:00 AM JST - 13th October

The death penalty is to protect society from having violent offenders repeat offend. It's to keep society safe moreso than to punish the guilty. I'm all for it but I want the evidence to be clear to be able to get that kind of a sentence. hearsay doesn't cut it.
JHansen at 12:08 AM JST - 14th October

• Gloobey at 05:44 PM JST - 11th October "... mass executions..."; Really!? I did not realize prisoners were being lined up en masses in front of a wall and being machine gunned. SAVE THE DEATH PENALTY!

I am not anxious to stereotype - though I know I am going to anyway! - but I would guess you are either American or stupid. You could, of course, be both. If murder is wrong, then it is wrong whoever commits it, be it the state or an individual. As has been said elsewhere here, it isn't justice, it's revenge. I don't want the state murdering in my name, thank you very much.

Gloobey,

I am glad you are not “anxious” to stereotype but your stereotype are too much to ignore. You response seems a bit naive to say the least but it is perhaps because you are Japanese. You seem to equate lawful capital punishment with murder. That is simply comparing apples to oranges. I do not believe in capital punishment. Not because taking a life by the state as a punishment is wrong in and of itself. I do not believe in capital punishment because the system that is used to determine guilt or innocence is not perfect. If life were as sacred as it is claimed to be then every effort must be made to ensure that innocent life is not mistakenly taken in the name of Justice. Japan is luck to have a system that, seems to me, to be much fairer in this regard than the one in the United States, Iran and China. But let’s be very clear, the state is not murdering in your name. The state is executing people in the name of law and order. Murder, as defined in common law countries, is the unlawful killing of another human being with intent (or malice aforethought), and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide (such as manslaughter or executions).

Don't get me wrong. Many Americans and others are all too happy to use capital punishment too quickly and without the proper oversight. I am thinking China or Texas. Do not let the bad use of a good idea prevent you from seeing the logic and rationalism of that idea.
riverwalk at 01:26 AM JST - 29th October

Death penalty system is very difficult problem. Judge from victim's side, I don't say death penalty is wrong. Some of them may think that they want to kill criminals. But if it arrest the wrong person like Toshikazu Sugaya, irrecoverable thing happen. So I think government should change death penalty to life sentence.
zMeina at 04:38 PM JST - 29th October

I think life sentence sometime more painful than death penalty for prisoners.Criminals should continue to live and make reparations for thier crimes. The problem is some people think that they can get secure bed and regular meal in prison.
yuki0426 at 01:22 PM JST - 5th November

I think that criminals are bad because they commit a crime. So they should be punished, but it is hard to kill them. It is bad to kill the people. Then, I think that government should use the life sentense.