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Two death row inmates in Japan were killed today, following a controversial procedure where inmates are given a just a few hours notice before they are hanged, and relatives are not notified until the prisoners are already dead. Ryoji Kagayama and Mitsuo Fujishima were the latest condemned inmates to be put to death as part of this controversial "secret execution" program that has been condemned by human rights activists in Japan and abroad.

Though polls show Japanese support for capital punishment is consistently over 80 percent, the global community has called upon Japan to stop the program. The clandestine nature of Japanese executions is especially concerning, reports the Guardian:

Prisoners, who spend years, even decades, on death row, typically are not told of their execution until hours before they are led to the gallows. Their lawyers and relatives are informed only after the execution has been carried out. In a report published in 2008, Amnesty [International] said inmates in Japan were being driven insane and exposed to "cruel, inhuman and degrading" punishment.

This marks the fourth round of executions since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in December 2012, and brings the number of condemned inmates killed in the last year to eight.