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| Tokyo's execution chamber |
New Justice Minister Satsuki Eda openly opposes capital punishment but can't decide whether to perform his duty and sign off on executions or stick to his personal beliefs.
Eda became justice chief in Prime Minister Naoto Kan's Jan. 14 Cabinet reshuffle.
"I can't decide my position. That's why it's troubling," Eda, who once served as chairman of the Amnesty lawmakers group, which opposes the death penalty, said in a group interview Jan. 26.
A justice minister can prevent executions simply by not signing off on them, but that's controversial. Seiken Sugiura, justice minister from October 2005 to September 2006, didn't order any hangings due to his personal beliefs.
Keiko Chiba, who held the post for a year from September 2009, signed off on 2 hangings last July, saying she "fulfilled her duty" despite her philosophical opposition to capital punishment.
Eda, who was a judge before entering politics and thus was involved in handing down death sentences, said he realizes judges sometimes have to mete out the ultimate punishment and acknowledged most of the public support sending convicted murderers to the gallows.
However, he also pointed out the global trend is to abolish the death penalty.
Source: The Japan Times, February 6, 2011
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