London:
Amnesty International released a report condemning Japan for allegedly executing "mentally ill" death row inmates.
Japan is breaching its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in its treatment of prisoners on death row, the report on Japan's death penalty on Thursday said.
Conditions in prisons are harsh and prisoners on death row are especially vulnerable to developing mental health problems due to being imprisoned in isolation with little human contact, the report said.
Death could come at a few hours' notice to the convicts and some live like that for decades, the report said.
"To allow a prisoner to live for prolonged periods under the daily threat of imminent death is cruel, inhuman and degrading," according to James Welsh, the lead author of the report.