By Jane Nambi

Japan, under the new prime minister, Shinzo Abe has held its first executions since September 2012 with the hanging of three people.

The hangings were carried out today, Thursday morning in three different locations. One of the men, Kaoru Kobayashi, had been sentenced to death for the abduction, assault and murder of a seven-year-old schoolgirl in 2004 who sent a photograph of the murdered girl to her mother.

“I ordered the executions after giving them careful consideration,” Tanigaki told reporters. “These were extremely cruel cases in which the victims had their precious lives taken away for very selfish reasons.”

However, they were condemned by Amnesty International Japan which said, “The Japanese government cannot be excused from abiding by international human rights standards, just by citing opinion among the public,” it said in a statement.
Tanigaki early this year indicated that he would not hesitate to sign execution orders. “I will have to do what needs to be done according to the rule of law,” he said. “Even death row inmates have guarantees of privacy and we have to consider the feelings of their relatives. I don’t think it is necessarily a good idea to release more information.”

Last year Japan had 133 inmates on death row.

At the moment, it is being advocated to abolish the death penalty in the world to give chance to rehabilitation of the convicted.