Japan executed two convicted criminals, the Justice...

Japan executed two convicted criminals, the Justice Ministry said. The executions were the first since December 27, 2001, when two inmates were put to death, Kyodo news agency said. The ministry gave no details on the convicts' names or crimes, but local media and international human rights group Amnesty International said the two were 36-year-old Tatsuya Tamoto, also known as Tatsuya Harada, and Yoshiteru Hamada, 51.
Tamoto was convicted of abducting and killing a university student in 1987 and Hamada was convicted of killing three people.
Under Japan's capital punishment system, inmates and their relatives are not told of their impending execution until the day it takes place. The names of those executed are not made public.
Executions are carried out to "coincide with parliamentary recesses or parliamentary elections, or public holidays, to minimise public and parliamentary criticism," Amnesty said. Japan's parliament was in recess.
European Radical MP Olivier Dupuis questioned the European Commission regarding its reaction to the latest executions, and what initiatives it intends to take against the death penalty with the Japanese government. He stressed the importance of making the EU's position clear to the democratic nations of the Asian continent, including Japan, with whom it has "special relations".