【Unreasonable restraining action by immigration detention center officers】

In January 2019, Mr. Deniz, a Kurdish refugee applicant detained at the Higashi-Nihon immigration center in Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture, was handcuffed and assaulted by detention officers as a "restraining action".

There are many cases in Japan that detained foreigners are assaulted or excessively restrained by immigration detention center officers. Mr. Deniz filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government, hoping to prevent discriminatory human rights violations against foreigners in immigration detention centers in the future, by questioning the illegality of such violent acts and human rights violations.

Mr. Deniz is suing the Japanese government for damages over the abusing. It is not easy for an individual to keep fighting a case against the government, which can devote more human resources and budget for litigation. In particular, Mr. Deniz, who is not allowed to work because of his lack of residency status, does not have the funds to fight the government on an equal footing.

We launch crowdfunding through CALL4 to ask for supports for the actual costs of the trial, including the cost of stamps to file the lawsuit, of copies of evidentiary materials, of requesting a written opinion from an expert, and attorney’s fees.

【What happened at the immigration detention center on the day of the incident?】

Mr. Deniz is a Kurdish refugee applicant, an ethnic minority persecuted in his home country, Turkey. Although he married a Japanese woman, he has no legal residency status. As a result, he has been detained in the immigration detention center since 2016. Due to the stress of long-term detention and the anxiety of deportation, he had suffered from insomnia and had been prescribed sleeping pills.

On January 19, 2019, after midnight, Mr. Deniz suffered from insomnia and requested officer to get some sleeping pills. But the detention officers refused to give him sleeping pills, so he began to protest with a louder voice. Ten to fifteen officers then entered his room and told him to move to another cell. Mr. Deniz asked why he was supposed to go to the other room, but the officers didn't explain.
*At that time, one of the officers twisted Mr. Deniz’s wrist, then he flapped his arms and legs and resisted because of the pain. Although the government claims that he kicked the officer’s stomach at the time, he simply struggled in pain. There no evidences exist to show that Mr. Deniz attacked the officer.

Then, as Mr. Deniz refused to go to another room, several officer members lifted his head, arms and legs, carrying him out of the room. He was so surprised and terrified by the officer's sudden actions that he stopped protesting and shouted "help" and "they are going to kill me".

Mr. Deniz was moved to another room. Then, he was laid on his back with his limbs and head held down. He no longer had the power to say, "help me," rather than flapping his arms and legs. Then he was laid face down and handcuffed behind his back.

However, officers continued to restrain him. They claimed that he was still "protesting", and several officers held his head, feet and handcuffed his hands. They then assaulted him, blocking his mouth, pushing up his neck with their fingers, and tightening up his handcuffed arms. He screamed out, "it hurts," "it is too much". His screams from the pain included sobbing.

Mr. Deniz had done nothing to threaten the officer at all. In response to his claim, one of the officer interrupted his word by saying, "I don't trust your story.", " Listen, you are liar. Don't lie to me.", "It's all recorded on video. Are you satisfied with that?”.  Then, without paying any attention to his actions, the officer continued to yell at him, saying "Shut up," with holding his hands, feet and head.

The assault hasn’t stopped until the chief officer arrived there about seven to eight minutes later.

【Sloppy dealing by the immigration authority after the incident】

Soon after the incident, Mr. Deniz filed a complaint requesting an investigation into the incident. If there is a reason for the complaint, the head of the immigration detention center shall take "necessary measures" for the treatment of the claiming detainee, in accordance with the law.

After an investigation, the immigration authority made a determination that his complaint had a "reason" to be filed. This means that the immigration authority admitted a fault regarding the assault made by the officer in question. However, the decision only stated that "the complaint had a reason," showing no explanation of the decision, the results of the investigation, or what measures were taken to prevent a recurrence.

Moreover, the officer in question who is referred to in the lawsuit as "the officer A", is still in charge of the treatment of the detainees, including Mr. Deniz. In addition, it became also cleared that this officer continued to approach Mr. Deniz to provoke him.

【Towards the improvement of the Japanese immigration system】

This is not, in fact, the first time such an incident has occurred in an immigration detention center. The background for this are the structural problems of the Japanese immigration system, such as the problem of normalization of improper treatment of detainees based on discrimination and prejudice, as well as the problem of long-term detention.

The problem is particularly serious for immigrants detained by a deportation order, such as Mr. Deniz. This is because the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act does not place a limit on the length of detention and allows for virtually endless detention.

In this regard, the United Nation has submitted recommendations for several times that Japan must improve its immigration system. There has also been a shocking incident that a detainee, who went on a hunger strike to appeal to improve the treatment for immigration detainees,  has died of starvation. 

The normalization of long-term detention and the widespread practice of excessive suppression by officers in immigration detention centers violate the rights to freedom of movement as well as the principles of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment.

While this lawsuit claims damages for the unjustified assault Mr. Deniz suffered in the immigration detention center, it also aims to seek correction of the problematic treatment of the detainees by the immigration authority.

Considering the fact that this case is highly public concern, we would like to open up the arguments by using CALL4 platform to garner the support from those who have an interest in the immigration issues discussed in the trial.

We hope you will support us all. For more information on our claims and the government's rebuttal, please visit our litigation materials page(sorry but in Japanese), which will be updated from time to time.