Death penalty prisoners in Japan continue to be held in strict solitary confinement with almost no contact with the outside world. They are generally prevented from meeting and talking to other prisoners, from receiving visits or letters from friends and supporters, and even from engaging in conversation with prison guards. Such conditions of detention facilitate acts of ill-treatment by prison guards and often cause prisoners severe stress and psychological problems. Amnesty International has also urged the Japanese government to reform conditions of detention on death row, pending abolition of the death penalty. A few weeks ago, your Minister of Justice, Mr Nakamura Shozaburo made a public statement stressing Japan's sovereignty and reiterating that the death penalty would not be abolished despite the HRC's recommendations.
Human rights are a legitimate concern of the international community.
This has been reinforced again and again by UN conferences and official documents including the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action of 1993. In his address to the HRC last month, the Japanese Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Mr. Akao Nobutoshi, gave a ringing endorsement of the protection and promotion of human rights and the importance which the government attaches to the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This anniversary will be marked with celebrations around the world in just a few weeks time. We urge the Japanese government to take advantage of this important occasion to declare its unswerving support for international human rights standards and to institute the necessary reforms, including the abolition of the death penalty.