Japan's First Execution Under Prime Minister Takaichi Condemned

Sunao Takami, a 58-year-old man, has been executed by hanging at Osaka Detention House.

Takami was convicted of killing five people in a pachinko parlor arson in Osaka in 2009.

A six-member jury and a panel of three judges rejected the defense's argument that Takami was mentally ill at the time of the crime in 2011.

This execution is the sixth since 2020 and the first since June 2025.

There are currently 100 prisoners, including six women, on death row.

The French human rights organization FIDH and the Japanese human rights organization CPR urge the government to take concrete steps towards the abolition of the death penalty.

They recommend implementing the following: declaring an official moratorium on the use of the death penalty, ratifying the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, commuting all death sentences to prison terms, and aligning conditions for death row inmates to international standards.

FIDH and CPR also urge the Japanese government to abstain from voting in the upcoming UN General Assembly's biennial resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.

Japan has consistently voted against such resolutions in the past.

FIDH and CPR oppose the death penalty for all crimes and in all circumstances.

They are founding members of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (WCADP) and a member of its Steering Committee.

FIDH is a member of the WCADP.

The organizations call for an end to the death penalty in Japan.

Death Penalty Abolition in Japan

FIDH and CPR urge the Japanese government to take concrete steps towards the abolition of the death penalty.

International Pressure on Japan

The organizations recommend that Japan declare an official moratorium on the use of the death penalty, ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, commute all death sentences to prison terms, and align conditions for death row inmates to international standards.

Japan's Voting Record on the Death Penalty

Japan has consistently voted against UN General Assembly resolutions on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty in the past.

The organizations call for Japan to abstain from voting in the upcoming UN General Assembly's biennial resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.

Organizations Opposed to the Death Penalty

FIDH and CPR are founding members of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (WCADP) and a member of its Steering Committee.

FIDH is a member of the WCADP.

The organizations oppose the death penalty for all crimes and in all circumstances.

The call for an end to the death penalty in Japan continues.