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Kyodo News
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Kyodo News
Japan executes man convicted of 9 murders, 1st hanging since 2022
KYODO NEWS - 15 hours ago - 18:15 | All, Japan Japan executed on Friday a man convicted of the 2017 serial murders of nine people near Tokyo, the government said, marking the country's first hanging since July 2022. The death sentence of Takahiro Shiraishi, 34, dubbed Japan's "Twitter killer," was finalized in 2021, after he withdrew an appeal. He was found guilty of murdering, dismembering and storing the bodies of his nine victims, who had posted suicidal thoughts on social media, in his apartment in Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture. "I ordered the execution after careful and deliberate consideration," Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki told a press conference held to announce the hanging, which was the first since Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba took office in October last year. The execution comes as questions are raised about the country's capital punishment system after the exoneration of Iwao Hakamata, 89, who spent more than four decades on death row. He was acquitted over a 1966 quadruple murder and his retrial was finalized in October 2024. Shiraishi was also convicted of sexually assaulting all eight female murder victims and stealing cash. Using a Twitter handle that loosely translates as "hangman," he invited his eventual victims to his apartment after they had expressed suicidal thoughts. The nearly three-year hiatus in executions in Japan is thought to be due to the dismissal of former Justice Minister Yasuhiro Hanashi over inappropriate comments about the death penalty at a political gathering in 2022. He said the ministerial post is a "low-key" position and it becomes "a top story in daytime news programs only when stamping a seal on documents of executions." Before Shiraishi, Tomohiro Kato, 39, was the last to be executed, in July 2022. He was convicted for a 2008 rampage in Tokyo's Akihabara district in which seven people were killed and 10 others injured. "No one has the right to take someone's life and it cannot be justified for any reason. Amnesty objects to any form of execution without exceptions," the Japanese branch of Amnesty International said in a statement. The human rights organization urged the Japanese government to take measures to swiftly end the practice. While domestic legal experts have called for a review of the death penalty amid international pressure to end executions and following Hakamata's acquittal, a 2024 government survey on the issue showed over 80 percent of those polled support the system, calling it "unavoidable." It was the fifth consecutive time that support for capital punishment exceeded 80 percent in the government poll, conducted every five years. After the execution of Shiraishi, there are 105 inmates on death row in Japan, of whom 49 have filed retrial requests. Japan and the United States are the only Group of Seven nations still handing down capital sentences. The European Union, which bars countries with the death penalty from joining, has been vocal in calling on Japan to review its stance. According to Amnesty International, a total of 15 countries conducted executions in 2024. Related coverage: Death penalty ruling finalized for Japan's "Twitter killer" Man acquitted of 1966 murders awarded record criminal compensation FEATURE: Steady-handed prison guard remembers faces of condemned FOCUS: Japan makes major step toward revising controversial retrial system
The Star
19 hours ago
- Politics
- The Star
Amnesty says Cambodia is enabling brutal scam industry
Barbed wire fences are seen outside a shuttered Great Wall Park compound where Cambodian authorities said they had recovered evidence of human trafficking, kidnapping and torture during raids on suspected cybercrime compounds in the coastal city of Sihanoukville, Cambodia Sept 21, 2022. - Reuters file photo BANGKOK: Human rights group Amnesty International accused Cambodia's government on Thursday (June 26) of "deliberately ignoring" abuses by cybercrime gangs that have trafficked people from across the world, including children, into slavery at brutal scam compounds. The London-based group said in a report that it had identified 53 scam centres and dozens more suspected sites across the country, including the nation's capital, Phnom Penh. The prison-like compounds were ringed by high fences with razor wire, guarded by armed men and staffed by trafficking victims forced to defraud people across the globe, it said, with those inside subjected to punishments including shocks from electric batons, confinement in dark rooms, and beatings. Amnesty said its findings revealed a "pattern of state failures" that allowed the billion-dollar industry to flourish, including failures to investigate human rights abuses, identify and assist victims, and regulate security companies and tools of torture. Cambodian government spokesman Pen Bona said the country rejected allegations of inaction, pointing to a task force led by Prime Minister Hun Manet formed in January and saying the report was "exaggerated". He said Cambodia was one of the victims of the scam industry and wanted cooperation rather than blame. While Cambodia has overseen raids that have freed some trafficked workers, Amnesty said it found more than two-thirds of scam compounds were either not investigated by police or had continued to operate even after police interventions. Two compounds did appear to have been shut down, the group said. During rescue efforts, police did not enter compounds but met representatives who handed over only the victim who had called for help, the group said, while some survivors were beaten by their bosses after trying to contact the police. The government spokesman did not respond to those claims. "Deceived, trafficked and enslaved, the survivors of these scamming compounds describe being trapped in a living nightmare - enlisted in criminal enterprises that are operating with the apparent consent of the Cambodian government,' said Amnesty International's Secretary General Agnes Callamard. Cambodia emerged during the pandemic as a hub for the global scam industry as mostly Chinese-led criminal groups repurposed unused casinos and hotels as scam centres housing as many as 100,000 people, according to the United Nations. Similar enclaves have flourished in Myanmar and Laos. The industry in Cambodia now generates more than US$12.5 billion annually - half of the country's GDP, according to the United States Institute for Peace. Thailand and Cambodia have traded barbs over the scam issue in recent days as border tensions have heated up, with the Thai prime minister calling for a crackdown in Cambodia and another government official calling the country a hub for cybercrime. The criminal gangs entice trafficking victims with fake job offers posted on social media and then force them to financially exploit people online including through fake romances or "pig-butchering' schemes in which the scammer builds trust with a victim before stealing their money, Amnesty said. Nine out of 58 survivors interviewed by Amnesty were children, the group said, including a 16-year-old boy from China who was kicked and barred from leaving. Amnesty said it had confirmed the death of a Chinese child in one compound. An 18-year-old Thai survivor told Reuters he was trafficked to a compound in Phnom Penh in 2023 and then, when he tried to leave, sold to another compound close to the Vietnamese border. The man, who asked not to be named, was forced to use deepfake video software to pose as an older attractive man to lure Thai women into handing over their money. After almost a year, he threw himself out of a window, injuring himself, and escaped after hiding in a hospital. - Reuters
France 24
2 days ago
- France 24
'Mass scale' abuses in Cambodia scam centres: Amnesty
Following instructions to travel across the kingdom, the 18-year-old ended up being trafficked across the border to a compound in Svay Rieng, Cambodia. There Jett was beaten, tortured and forced to perpetrate cyberscams, part of a multibillion-dollar illicit industry that has defrauded victims around the world. He was forcibly held at the compound for seven months, during which "there was no monetary compensation, and contacting family for help was not an option", he told AFP. "Will I survive, or will I die?" Jett (a pseudonym to protect his identity) recalled asking himself. Abuses in Cambodia's scam centres are happening on a "mass scale", a report published Thursday by Amnesty International said, accusing the Cambodian government of being "acquiescent" and "complicit" in the exploitation of thousands of workers. The report says there are at least 53 scam compounds in Cambodia, clustered mostly around border areas, in which organised criminal groups carry out human trafficking, forced labour, child labour, torture, deprivation of liberty and slavery. Amnesty's Montse Ferrer said that despite law enforcement raids on some scam compounds, the number of compounds in Cambodia has increased, "growing and building" in the last few months and years. "Scamming compounds are allowed to thrive and flourish by the Cambodian government," she told AFP. The Cambodian government has denied the allegations. Jett was made to romance his wealthy, middle-aged compatriots on social media, gaining their trust until they could be tricked into investing in a fake business. "If the target fell into the trap, they would be lured to keep investing more until they were financially drained -- selling their land, cars, or all their assets," he said. Scam bosses demanded exorbitant targets of one million baht ($31,000) per month from overworked employees –- a target only about two percent of them reached, he said. "Initially, new recruits wouldn't face physical harm, but later, reprimands escalated to beatings, electric shocks, and severe intimidation," Jett told AFP. - 'Woefully ineffective' – The other employees in his multi-storey building were mostly Chinese, with some Vietnamese and some Thais. Amnesty International says none of the ex-scammers of the 58 they interviewed for the report were Cambodian, and "overwhelmingly" were not paid for their labour. Most of the scam centre bosses were Chinese, Jett said, adding that they used Thai interpreters when meting out punishments to those who performed poorly. "Sometimes they'd hold meetings to decide who would be eliminated tomorrow," he said. "Or who will be sold (to another scam compound)? Or did anyone do something wrong that day? Did they break the company rules?" He claims a colleague falsely accused him of wrongdoing to the Chinese bosses for a bounty. He pleaded his innocence but they "just didn't listen". Ferrer said Cambodian government interventions against the scam centres had been "woefully ineffective", often linked to corruption by individual police officers at a "systemic and widespread level". Government spokesman Pen Bona told AFP: "Cambodia is a victimised country used by criminals to commit online scams. We do recognise that there is such thing, but Cambodia has taken serious measures against the problem." The UN Office on Drugs and Crime said in April that the scam industry was expanding outside hotspots in Southeast Asia, with criminal gangs building up operations as far as South America, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and some Pacific islands. In Cambodia, Jett ultimately staged a dramatic escape after a particularly severe beating in which his arm was broken. He jumped out of a building, passed out and later woke up in hospital. "Whether I died or survived, both options seemed good to me at the time," he said. "Consider it a blessing that I jumped." He is now seeking legal recourse with assistance from Thai government agencies who have categorised him as a victim of human trafficking. But Ferrer said effective action to help end the industry must come from the Cambodian government. "We are convinced that if the Cambodian government wanted to put a stop they would be able to put a stop. At the very least they would be able to do much more than what we're seeing," she said.
AsiaOne
2 days ago
- Politics
- AsiaOne
Amnesty says Cambodia is enabling brutal scam industry, Asia News
BANGKOK — Human rights group Amnesty International accused Cambodia's government on Thursday (June 26) of "deliberately ignoring" abuses by cybercrime gangs who have trafficked people from across the world, including children, into slavery at brutal scam compounds. The London-based group said in a report that it had identified 53 scam centres and dozens more suspected sites across the country, including the Southeast Asian nation's capital, Phnom Penh. The prison-like compounds were ringed by high fences with razor wire, guarded by armed men and staffed by trafficking victims forced to defraud people across the globe, it said, with those inside subjected to punishments including shocks from electric batons, confinement in dark rooms, and beatings. Amnesty said its findings revealed a "pattern of state failures" that allowed the billion-dollar industry to flourish, including failures to investigate human rights abuses, identify and assist victims, and regulate security companies and tools of torture. "Deceived, trafficked and enslaved, the survivors of these scamming compounds describe being trapped in a living nightmare — enlisted in criminal enterprises that are operating with the apparent consent of the Cambodian government," said Amnesty International's Secretary General Agnes Callamard. Amnesty said the Cambodian government did not respond to its list of scamming compounds or suspicious locations, and that the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking shared "vague data on interventions at compounds, none of which clarified whether the state has identified, investigated or prosecuted individuals for human rights abuses other than deprivation of liberty." The Cambodian government did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment about the report. Phnom Penh has said previously that it is tackling scam gangs and in January set up a taskforce headed by Prime Minister Hun Manet. While Cambodia has overseen raids that have freed some trafficked workers, Amnesty said it found more than two-thirds of scam compounds were either not investigated by police or had continued to operate even after police interventions. Two compounds did appear to have been shut down, the group said. During rescue efforts, police did not enter compounds but met representatives who handed over only the victim who had called for help, the group said, while some survivors were beaten by their bosses after trying to contact the police. Children trafficked Cambodia emerged during the pandemic as a hub for the global scam industry as mostly Chinese-led criminal groups repurposed unused casinos and hotels as scam centres housing as many as 100,000 people, according to the United Nations. Similar enclaves have flourished in Myanmar and Laos. The industry in Cambodia now generates more than US$12.5 billion (S$15.9 billion) annually — half of the country's GDP, according to the United States Institute for Peace. Thailand and Cambodia have traded barbs over the scam issue in recent days as border tensions have heated up, with the Thai prime minister calling for a crackdown in Cambodia and another government official calling the country a hub for cybercrime. The criminal gangs entice trafficking victims with fake job offers posted on social media and then force them to financially exploit people online including through fake romances or "pig-butchering" schemes in which the scammer builds trust with a victim before stealing their money, Amnesty said. Nine out of 58 survivors interviewed by Amnesty were children, the group said, including a 16-year-old boy from China who was kicked and barred from leaving. Amnesty said it had confirmed the death of a Chinese child in one compound. An 18-year-old Thai survivor told Reuters he was trafficked to a compound in Phnom Penh in 2023 and then, when he tried to leave, sold to another compound close to the Vietnamese border. The man, who asked not to be named, was forced to use deepfake video software to pose as an older attractive man to lure Thai women into handing over their money. After almost a year, he threw himself out of a window, injuring himself, and escaped after hiding in a hospital. [[nid:719444]]
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Amnesty says Cambodia is enabling brutal scam industry
FILE PHOTO: Barbed wire fences are seen outside a shuttered Great Wall Park compound where Cambodian authorities said they had recovered evidence of human trafficking, kidnapping and torture during raids on suspected cybercrime compounds in the coastal city of Sihanoukville, Cambodia September 21, 2022. REUTERS/Cindy Liu/File Photo BANGKOK - Human rights group Amnesty International accused Cambodia's government on Thursday of "deliberately ignoring" abuses by cybercrime gangs who have trafficked people from across the world, including children, into slavery at brutal scam compounds. The London-based group said in a report that it had identified 53 scam centres and dozens more suspected sites across the country, including the Southeast Asian nation's capital, Phnom Penh. The prison-like compounds were ringed by high fences with razor wire, guarded by armed men and staffed by trafficking victims forced to defraud people across the globe, it said, with those inside subjected to punishments including shocks from electric batons, confinement in dark rooms, and beatings. Amnesty said its findings revealed a "pattern of state failures" that allowed the billion-dollar industry to flourish, including failures to investigate human rights abuses, identify and assist victims, and regulate security companies and tools of torture. 'Deceived, trafficked and enslaved, the survivors of these scamming compounds describe being trapped in a living nightmare – enlisted in criminal enterprises that are operating with the apparent consent of the Cambodian government,' said Amnesty International's Secretary General Agnes Callamard. Amnesty said the Cambodian government did not respond to its list of scamming compounds or suspicious locations, and that the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking shared "vague data on interventions at compounds, none of which clarified whether the state has identified, investigated or prosecuted individuals for human rights abuses other than deprivation of liberty.' The Cambodian government did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment about the report. Phnom Penh has said previously that it is tackling scam gangs and in January set up a taskforce headed by Prime Minister Hun Manet. While Cambodia has overseen raids that have freed some trafficked workers, Amnesty said it found more than two-thirds of scam compounds were either not investigated by police or had continued to operate even after police interventions. Two compounds did appear to have been shut down, the group said. During rescue efforts, police did not enter compounds but met representatives who handed over only the victim who had called for help, the group said, while some survivors were beaten by their bosses after trying to contact the police. CHILDREN TRAFFICKED Cambodia emerged during the pandemic as a hub for the global scam industry as mostly Chinese-led criminal groups repurposed unused casinos and hotels as scam centres housing as many as 100,000 people, according to the United Nations. Similar enclaves have flourished in Myanmar and Laos. The industry in Cambodia now generates more than $12.5 billion annually – half of the country's GDP, according to the United States Institute for Peace. Thailand and Cambodia have traded barbs over the scam issue in recent days as border tensions have heated up, with the Thai prime minister calling for a crackdown in Cambodia and another government official calling the country a hub for cybercrime. The criminal gangs entice trafficking victims with fake job offers posted on social media and then force them to financially exploit people online including through fake romances or 'pig-butchering' schemes in which the scammer builds trust with a victim before stealing their money, Amnesty said. Nine out of 58 survivors interviewed by Amnesty were children, the group said, including a 16-year-old boy from China who was kicked and barred from leaving. Amnesty said it had confirmed the death of a Chinese child in one compound. An 18-year-old Thai survivor told Reuters he was trafficked to a compound in Phnom Penh in 2023 and then, when he tried to leave, sold to another compound close to the Vietnamese border. The man, who asked not to be named, was forced to use deepfake video software to pose as an older attractive man to lure Thai women into handing over their money. After almost a year, he threw himself out of a window, injuring himself, and escaped after hiding in a hospital. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
