Blog： ‘Sheer non-existence’
Ms Allen called the death row system a “regime of silence, isolation and sheer non-existence”.
She said that the Japanese practice of informing prisoners that they would be killed with only a few hours notice was “utterly cruel”.
According to the report – which researchers said had been challenging to compile due to the secrecy of the country’s justice system – the conditions faced by many death row prisoners are making them mentally ill.
Death row prisoners, according to Amnesty, are not allowed to speak to other inmates and are held in isolation.
Apart from twice or thrice-weekly exercise sessions, they are not even allowed to move around their cells but must remain seated, the group says.
As a result, many are now suffering from mental illnesses and are delusional.
According to Japan’s code of criminal procedure, if a person condemned to death is in a state of insanity, the execution shall be stayed by the justice minister.
