Hideko Hakamada, 92, continues campaigning against capital punishment after securing her brother’s exoneration following 46 years on death row
TOKYO: Hideko Hakamada campaigned for nearly six decades to clear her brother, the world’s longest-serving death row inmate, but at 92 she refuses to stop fighting against capital punishment.
“Courts are run by people and they obviously make mistakes,” Hideko told AFP during an interview at a Tokyo congress on the death penalty in East Asia where she delivered a keynote address.
“I fought for 58 years. I cannot just be sad and slow down,” she told the weekend gathering that included campaigners from China, North Korea and other nations.
Her brother Iwao Hakamada was finally exonerated in 2024 after being wrongfully convicted of a 1966 quadruple murder, marking one of Japan’s most significant miscarriages of justice.
The former boxer spent 46 years awaiting execution, primarily in solitary confinement, under Japan’s system where inmates learn of their hanging only on the morning it occurs.
A court determined police had tampered with evidence and subjected Iwao to “inhumane interrogations” that forced a confession he later retracted.
The cheerful 92-year-old said her 89-year-old brother now spends his days napping and taking drives with supporters, but remains psychologically broken.
The enduring trauma from his imprisonment “cannot be cured,” she acknowledged.
“He says silly things. I go with his silly tales and live this silly life,” she said with a smile.
“There is no point in being sad now. If I stay happy and bright, then Iwao should also feel that.”
Iwao received approximately 200 million yen (USD 1.3 million) in compensation last March, equating to roughly USD 80 for each day of detention, with additional lawsuits still proceeding.
The United States and Japan stand as the only G7 nations maintaining capital punishment, with surveys indicating strong public support persists in Japan.
Japan currently holds over 100 death row inmates and conducted its most recent execution in June, the first since 2022.
Hideko, recently returned from speaking at an Italian death penalty conference, said her brother’s ordeal transformed her perspective.
“The death penalty has existed since I was a child. So it seemed normal to me,” she recalled.
“But Iwao’s case happened. I became absolutely determined not to let them kill an innocent person for a crime he didn’t commit.”
Hakamada became the fifth death row inmate exonerated in Japan’s post-war history.
“People are blase about this. It doesn’t affect them, so why bother. But I experienced it myself. I need to speak out, loud and clear.”
The regional congress organized by France-based Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM) precedes a global conference scheduled for Paris in 2026.
Worldwide executions reached 1,151 people in 2024, though ECPM notes this figure likely “falls far short” of reality since China treats execution data as state secrets.
At least 30,000 people remain on death row globally, with 47 countries still imposing death sentences, led by China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. – AFP
