Published 11 September 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b3729
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b3729

News

Mentally ill prisoners continue to face death penalty in Japan, says Amnesty

Zosia Kmietowicz

1 London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The human rights group Amnesty International has called for an end to the use of the death penalty in Japan, where prisoners sentenced to death who are mentally ill continue to be executed, in contravention of international law.

Professional medical bodies are also being asked to state their opposition to doctors and nurses participating in capital punishment. Instead they should demand good health care for prisoners, says the report.

The harsh conditions in Japanese prisons have led to many inmates developing mental illness, says Amnesty, which conducted a four month investigation into the extent to which mental health is taken into account in the use of the death penalty in the country. It found virtually no safeguards to prevent prisoners on death row with mental conditions being executed.

Kate Allen, the UK director of Amnesty International UK, said, "Japan’s death row system is driving prisoners into the depths of mental . . . [Full text of this article]


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to StumbleUpon StumbleUpon   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?

Access jobs at BMJ Careers
Whats new online at Student BMJ