DEATH PENALTY

Murder Victims’ Families
Oyama, father of Hiroto Oyama. Kiyotaka killed his wife—Hiroto’s
mother—as well as his foster father. Hiroto says he was discriminated
against as a son of a criminal while he had to endure suffering as a
victim’s family member. His hatred toward Kiyotaka was so strong
that he felt like killing the father himself. However, after Kiyotaka was
sentenced to death, Hiroto visited him at the detention centre, and
through meetings and correspondence, changed his mind. In the High
Court hearing, he took the stand for his father and testified that he
wanted him to continue to live and atone for his sins. Nevertheless,
the death sentence was upheld by the High Court and then by the
Supreme Court. Currently, Kiyotaka awaits his execution at the detention
centre. Hiroto stresses that he wants the public to know that there
are family members of victims who do not want death for assailants. 16
Thus, we must also bear in mind that when someone argues retention
of the death penalty for the sake of victims, victims who are also family
of offenders are ignored. 17 Although they seldom speak out about
their painful experiences, they are victims, who were seriously hurt by
offences but are given little attention to their inexpressible sufferings.
Changes in Victims’ Feelings
As seen in Hiroto’s case, victims’ feelings are changeable. And it is true
that, even among victims who are not relatives of offenders, there are
people who experience changes in their minds and do not want their
offenders to be hanged.
In 1983, Masaharu Harada’s younger brother Akio was killed in a
murder for life-insurance money disguised as traffic accident. The
culprits were three men including Akio’s employer, Toshihiko Hasegawa,
who had committed another two murders. Harada testified
against Hasegawa, demanding ultimate punishment for him. 18 Hasegawa,
together with one of his accomplices, was sentenced to death.
16 Daisuke Sato, “Son wants killer dad to atone, not hang,” The Japan Times, February 21, 2013.
17 Furthermore, it could be said that they are often legally discriminated against. As an example in
Japan, Act on Payment of Crime Victim Benefit provides that family members might not benefit
when a crime was committed among the family members (Article 6, item 1).
18 Japan uses a unitary trial system, and victims and their family members are not prohibited from
expressing their opinions about possible sentences for defendants.
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