Activists in despair at Japan's secret hangings

THERE CAN be no such thing as a good hanging, but by any standard the death of Teruo Ono was particularly cruel.

Human rights activists were tipped off on Thursday but the earliest Ono heard about his imminent death was probably early yesterday, shortly before he was led out of his cell in Fukuoka Detention House. Japanese executions are secret, with no independent witness, no family member and no press observer present. Until last year, the Justice Ministry did not even acknowledge that such things had taken place - out of consideration, it was claimed, for the feelings of the condemned men's families.

Ono was executed for the murder in 1977 of a woman from Nagasaki for 20,000 yen, about pounds 120 in today's money. He protested his innocence. He was originally sentenced in 1978; the death sentence was confirmed three years later. What has shocked politicians and activists is that he was applying for a retrial after claiming irregularities in court documents. Kazuo Sagawa, also executed yesterday, was also the subject of proceedings to prevent his death.

An MP said the Justice Minister, Hideo Usui, seemed unaware of the situation yesterday, giving vague answers as civil servants frantically pressed notes into his hand. "If he really didn't know, then it is a huge issue, because he hadn't been briefed by his officials," said Nobuaki Futami, who lodged a protest against the executions. "If he did know, then this is a new step in Japanese justice."

The deaths of Ono and Sagawa warranted a few lines in Japanese papers. By United States standards, Japan executes a handful of people, about half a dozen a year. But in its discreet way it is undergoing something of an execution boom, to the despair of campaigners.

A recent government survey indicated that four out of five Japanese support capital punishment, the highest proportion in 43 years of opinion polls. "There is fear and anger over the wave of crimes committed without any clear motive or target," said Kyoko Otani, a lawyer.

The decisive event was four years ago, when 12 people died and thousands were poisoned by sarin nerve gas released on the Tokyo subway by the Aum Shinri Kyo cult. The alleged perpetrators are being tried and yesterday prosecutors demanded the death penalty for Kiyohide Hayakawa, a senior cult member accused of four murders.