The Japanese government reports that over 80% of Japanese support the death penalty. The government survey, which is taken every five years, showed support for the death penalty at 83.1%, up 2.3% from the previous survey in 2019. This is the fifth consecutive time support has exceeded 80%. The survey included 3,000 people, age 18 and over.
In the survey, many people said the death penalty is “unavoidable”. A common reason for support was concern for the feelings of the victims of capital crimes and their families. Others in support of the death penalty said they were concerned the abolition of capital punishment would lead to a rise in terrible crimes.
Of those who are against the death penalty, the most common reason given was that mistaken convictions become irreversible. Last fall, an 88 year old man, Iwao Hakamata, who spent more than 40 years on death row after being convicted in a 1966 quadruple murder case, was acquitted in a retrial. This is the main reason why I am against the death penalty. You can’t bring the person back after the sentence was carried out by mistake.
According to Wikkipedia:
The 193 United Nations member states and two observer states fall into four categories based on their use of capital punishment. As of 2024:[9]
- 53 (27%) maintain the death penalty in law and practice.
- 23 (12%) permit its use but have abolished it de facto: per Amnesty International standards, they have not used it for at least 10 years and are believed to have a policy or practice of not carrying out executions.[10]
- 9 (5%) have abolished it for all crimes except those committed under exceptional circumstances (such as during war).
- 110 (56%) have completely abolished it, most recently Zimbabwe (2024).
4 comments:
That's the thing -- too many crimes here have been later exonerated, later through DNA or other evidence. It needs to be a pretty certain thing.
I have heard Japanese people say:
'The death penalty is a just punishment for someone who has murdered',
'An eye for an eye...',
'It is a deterrent - a way to stop terrible crimes from happening', 'Killing a small child is unforgivable - you have to pay with your own life.' and similar arguments.
Especially the expression 'unforgivable' is often heard from victims and their families.
Personally, I wonder if the Japanese way of seeing this is based on Buddhism and reincarnation.
In countries where Christianity has long and deep roots, I guess forgiveness is more important than revenge.
In Norway, the convict is supposedly given care and rehabilitation instead of punishment.
I don't believe in it b/c I don't believe anyone has a right to end another person's life regardless of the circumstances. I'm an American but I'm probably in the minority with this opinion. Or at least in my reasoning for being against it.
I agree with you - it's bad enough to find out someone has been unjustly imprisoned for years or decades. Once you execute them, there is no going back.
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