Introduction

Imagine if you are detained, your clothes are taken and you are only in your underwear, you are not allowed to go to a bathroom, and the police tell you, “Soil yourself.” How dehumanizing would that be? This actually happened to someone in a detention facility in the Shinjuku Police Station in July 2022.

In prisons, inmates are detained after a conviction by a court. In other detention facilities, those detained are citizens who are presumed innocent. Everyone, including those who have committed a crime, holds the right not to be punished without proper legal procedures.

Some might feel that this issue is somewhat distant. Some might even think, “Aren’t detention facilities for those who committed crimes?” “It does not matter to me because I would never commit a crime.”

However, unless we make sure that proper legal procedures are guaranteed for all, guilty or innocent, we are all at risk of unjust punishments in our criminal justice system. Ensuring proper legal procedures is equal to ensuring human rights in Japan.

▲ A reproduction illustration of Mr. A being restrained in only underwear in a protection room (created by Attorney Kotake)

Case summary

We call the plaintiff Mr. A for privacy reasons. Here is how Mr. A was detained and punished, which led him to start the lawsuit.

Detention in a Protection Room

Mr. A is in his 20s and was detained in a detention facility in the Shinjuku Police Station.

In the detention facility, people are usually put into a shared room called “zakkyo (雑居).” During his detention in the shared room, another detainee fell sick and developed a high fever. 

Mr. A asked a guard for a blanket for the sick detainee, but his request was refused. Mr. A repeatedly asked him why. Then the guard moved Mr. A into a “protection room (保護室)” for two whole days. 

Police can place detainees who have a risk of hurting themselves or others in protection rooms to ensure safety in detention facilities. Protection rooms are extremely small and minimal. For example, there is only a hole as a toilet which cannot be flushed.

Use of Restraining Devices and Insulting Language and Behavior

When Mr. A was put into a protection room, his clothes were taken away, and he was left only with his underwear. His hands were tightly bound with a belt and his hands were tied around his waist with a rope called “hojyo (捕縄).” As a result, Mr. A’s hands and waist were wounded with blood, and a part of his right hand was numb even a month later.

Furthermore, as he could not walk by himself with his hands tied to his waist, he asked a guard to help him move to the toilet, and he was told, “Soil yourself.” He had to excrete where he was. He also had to wipe his stool and himself with his hand.

▲Illustration after the injury left on Mr. A's wrist (created by Attorney Kotake)

Legal Issues

The following four points are at issue in this lawsuit: (1) placement in a protection room despite not meeting the requirements, (2) use of restraining devices, (3) use of insulting language and behavior, and (4) failure to preserve evidence for (1) through (3) due to human error at Shinjuku Police Department.

(1) Placement in a Protection Room

The police are allowed to place a detainee in a protection room only when (i) a detainee has a risk of causing self-inflicted injury, harm to others, or damages to facilities, or (ii) a detainee does not obey orders and makes loud noises. 

Mr. A only requested a blanket for another detainee who was sick. Moreover, he used respectful language throughout his communication. The situation did not have ground for the police to place him in a protection room.

(2) Use of Restraining Devices

The police are allowed to use restraining devices only when there is a risk of escape, self-inflicted injury, harm to others, or damages to facilities. Mr. A moved to a protection room following the guard’s orders, and there was no such risk for the police to use restraining devices. 

It is clear that the police arbitrarily placed Mr. A in a protection room with restraining devices. Their action is against the law that limits the police to use forces only under extenuating circumstances.

(3) Insulting Language and Behavior

The above act itself is a problem because it was performed without fulfilling the requirements, but it is also a problem that insulting words and deeds were used along with the above act. Insults such as "let it run away" are not permitted.

(4) Failure to Preserve Evidence

The video recordings serve in the detention facility serve as evidence for issues (1) through (3). 

Civil lawsuits have a procedure where a court issues an order to a party that has evidence to preserve the evidence to prevent destruction or falsification. In this lawsuit, the court issued the order to the Shinjuku Police Department to preserve video recordings in the detention facility. However, the police stated that they left the recording equipment in temporary suspension and therefore they do not have the recordings. Moreover, the police refused to submit all other evidence that they must have had. Consequently, the preservation of evidence was terminated as “unverifiable (検証不能).”

Social significance

This lawsuit challenges illegal police sanctions.

The guards at the Shinjuku Police Station punitively used a protection room and restraining devices on a detainee whom they deemed insubordinate, which is clearly against the law and should be regarded as sanction.

Again, those detained in detention facilities are not convicted criminals. Guards are only allowed to use the minimum amount of force to prevent escape or self-harm. Moreover, even if they had indeed committed a crime, punishments are imposed only after a court process, and detention facilities are not authorized to sanction anyone at all. 

In this case, we argue that guards in detention facilities might have a conception that detainees are criminals and thus deserve punishments. We also argue that this kind of conception might stem from the organizational structure rather than a personal thinking. 

Increasing Awareness on Criminal Justice

Through this lawsuit, we hope to increase awareness particularly to two issues.

“Detainees are criminals.” “Criminals should be treated badly.” Sadly, these perceptions are common. However, we need to know that it is a violation of the Constitution to punish a person without following the procedures prescribed by law. 

There is also a systemic and structural issue. Temporary detention facilities in police stations are being used in place of formal detention centers. Not only detainees, but also guards in police stations who have to manage the facilities with a limited number of guards are under a great deal of stress.

Comments from the Plaintiffs and the Defense Team

From the Plaintiff

“After I was released from the protection room, I learned that other inmates had similar experiences as well as the case of Mr Arjun who was tied up with restraining devices at the Shinjuku Police Station and later died. Then I realized that if I do not take action, similar things will continue to happen, and I decided to file a lawsuit so that no one would ever go through what I did.”        

From the Defense Team (Mr. Kotake, Attorney for the Plaintiff) 

“I was appalled at how inhumanely A was treated. In 2017, the police used restraining devices on a person in a protection room and he died at the same Shinjuku Police Station. I am deeply concerned that things have not changed. It is difficult for those in detention facilities to fight against the violations of their rights because they often lack means to express themselves and the detainees are separated. As a lawyer who knows the world of detention facilities, I hope to contribute to bringing the voices of the voiceless to the courts and society.”

Attorneys

▲ From the left, lawyer Yuichi Kaito and Hiroko Kotake (photo by Yoko Akiyoshi)

Yuichi Kaito (Daini Tokyo Bar Association/Tokyo Joint Law Office)
Hiroko Kotake (Daini Tokyo Bar Association/Tokyo Joint Law Office)
So Kimura (Daini Tokyo Bar Association/Tokyo Joint Law Office)
Michiko Abe (Daini Tokyo Bar Association, Yakumo Law Office)

Use of funds

1. Necessary expenses for filing lawsuits (documentary stamps, postage stamps, etc.): approximately 30,000 yen
2. Transportation expenses for witnesses, etc.
3. Fees for written opinions: approximately 200,000 yen
4. Fees for attorneys: approximately 200,000 yen
5. Others (related to the lawsuit) such as printing costs: approximately 70,000 yen

*The extra funds will be donated to the Daini Tokyo Bar Association Human Rights Relief Fund.

Call for donations

Some say that we can know the cultural level of a country when we look at their criminal institutions. We challenge Japan’s criminal institutions through this lawsuit, and the impact is not limited to those involved in the lawsuit. This lawsuit can significantly improve the human rights condition in Japan. Please support this lawsuit as much or as little as you can.