* Updated on October 19, 2024

Thanks to everyone, we were able to reach our goal. Thank you very much for your encouraging support.

In this case, we would like to create a replica of the "restraint device" used to restrain the plaintiff himself so that the judge can understand the severity of this case. It is expected that creating a replica will cost hundreds of thousands of yen. Therefore, we have set an additional 300,000 yen as our next goal. We would appreciate your continued support.

Introduction

Imagine being detained in only your underwear, not being allowed to go to the toilet, and even being told to "spit" inside. How painful would that be? This is an actual incident that occurred in July 2022 at the Shinjuku Police Station detention facility.

Unlike prisons, where people are detained after being found guilty in a trial, detention facilities are for citizens who are presumed innocent. In addition, everyone has the right not to be punished without due process of law, regardless of whether they have actually committed a crime or not.

You may feel that detention facilities are places where people who have committed crimes go, or that it doesn't concern you because you don't commit crimes.

However, being arrested for a crime you did not commit could happen to you or someone you love, and the fact that due process is followed in the punishment of those who have committed a crime is a guarantee of the level of human rights protection in Japan.

▲ A re-enactment of the scene where Ms. A was restrained in the protective room wearing only her underwear (created by Attorney Otake)

Summary of the incident

What was the process that led to the plaintiff, Mr. A, being treated as described above and filing the lawsuit?

Until being placed in a protective room

Mr. A is a man in his 20s who was being held in the Shinjuku Police Station's detention cell.

In the detention center, inmates are held in shared rooms known as "municipal rooms." While in detention, one of Mr. A's roommates fell ill and even developed a high fever.

Unable to bear the situation any longer, Mr. A asked the staff to let his roommate use the blanket, but the staff member refused, saying that it was not possible.

In response, Mr. A asked again, "Why can't I use a blanket?" and the staff placed Mr. A in a room called a "protective room" for two whole days.

This protective room is a room to prevent people in custody from becoming violent and hurting themselves or others. It is a very simple and narrow space, and the toilet is just a hole, so you can't even flush it after using it.

Restraints using restraining devices and insulting behavior

Not only was Mr. A placed in this protective room, he was also wearing only his underwear, his hands were tightly bound with a belt, and his hands were tied around his waist with what is called a hojo (a rope).

The use of these belts and ropes, known as kaigu (restraints), left Mr. A with wounds on both his wrists and waist that bled, and even after a month, part of his right hand was numb and he had no feeling in the skin.

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

Furthermore, because her hands were tied around her waist, she was unable to go to the toilet, so when she told the staff that she wanted to go to the toilet, they told her to just let it all out like that, and made her defecate like that. When she had to defecate, she was not allowed to use paper, and had to wipe it with her hands.

Where is the problem?

The four issues at issue here are: 1) placement in a protective room despite the requirements not being met, 2) restraint with restraining implements, 3) insulting behavior, and 4) the failure to preserve evidence necessary to hold those responsible for 1) through 3) responsible due to human error on the part of Shinjuku Police Station.

1) Placement in a protective room

Requirements for placing a person in a protective room are limited to cases where there is a risk of self-harm or harm to others, or damage to facilities, or where the person refuses to comply with restraints and shouts or makes noise.

Mr. A was concerned about the health of his cellmate and simply asked for a blanket. Moreover, he only made his request to the detention officer using polite language throughout, which did not meet the requirements for being placed in a protective room.

② Use of discipline implements

In addition, the requirement to use restraining devices on detainees is limited to cases where there is a risk of escape, self-injury or harm to others, or damage to facilities, etc.

However, Mr. A was moved to a protective room in accordance with the instructions of the detention officer, and the restraining devices were used without any of the above-mentioned risks.

The confinement of a person to a protective room and the use of restraining devices without meeting the requirements, as in this case, are completely arbitrary and can be said to go against the purpose of the requirements that are in place for physical restrictions.

3) Insulting behavior

The above acts themselves do not meet the requirements and are problematic, but the use of insulting language in conjunction with the above acts is also problematic. Insulting language such as "let it all flow" is not acceptable.

④ Evidence preservation procedures

The evidence that acts ① to ③ were committed is the video footage taken inside the detention facility.

In civil litigation, when the other party has evidence, there is a procedure called evidence preservation , where the court issues an order to preserve the evidence to prevent it from being destroyed or altered.

In this lawsuit, procedures were carried out to preserve evidence of recorded footage taken inside the detention facility, but due to a human error by Shinjuku Police Station in which the recording equipment was left paused, no recorded footage existed and the evidence preservation date ended with the evidence being deemed "unverifiable."

Social significance

We will not tolerate "sanctions" that violate legal provisions.

In this way, in this case, Shinjuku Police Station officials imposed punitive "sanctions" on detainees they deemed to be "rebellious," such as using protective rooms and restraining devices, which is clearly in violation of the provisions of the law.

In the first place, people held in detention facilities have not been convicted of any crimes, and staff are only authorized to use minimal force to destroy evidence or prevent escape or self-harm.

Furthermore, even if a person has indeed committed a crime, punishment will be imposed after going through a judicial process, and the detention facility has no authority to impose sanctions whatsoever.

In this case, behind the staff member's use of restraining devices to control the detainee may be the belief that detainees are criminals and can do whatever they want, or the organizational nature of the organization may be in agreement with this.If this is the case, it is a mistaken perception and absolutely unacceptable.

Improving public understanding of criminal justice

Through this lawsuit, I hope to make everyone aware that the idea that "detainees are criminals" and "criminals deserve to be treated badly" is wrong, and that punishing someone without following procedures established by law is a violation of the Constitution.

Additionally, I would like people to know that the background to this issue lies in the problem of substitute prisons, where police station detention facilities are being used instead of prisons, and that there are institutional and structural problems underlying the incident, in which not only the detainees but also the small number of staff members who have to manage them are subjected to enormous stress.

Plaintiff’s thoughts

After being released from the protective room, Mr. A heard about other inmates who had been treated similarly, and about the case of Arjun, who was shackled with restraining devices at Shinjuku Police Station and later died.

I realized that if I didn't take some kind of action, similar things would continue to happen in the future, and with the desire to "prevent anyone else from having to go through the same thing," I decided to file a lawsuit.

Comments from the defense team

When I heard about the way A-san was treated, I was outraged by how cruel it was. In 2017, there was also an incident at the same Shinjuku Police Station where a person who was placed in a protective room and restraining devices died. I feel a sense of crisis about the system at Shinjuku Police Station, which has not changed at all.

People held in detention facilities have little ability to express themselves, and are isolated from one another, making it difficult for them to recover from the infringement of their rights. As a lawyer who knows the world of detention facilities, I would be happy to do work that helps bring the voiceless voices to the courts and society.

Attorney in charge

▲From the left, lawyers Yuichi Umidori and Hiroko Otake (photo by Yoko Akiyoshi)

Yuichi Kaito (Tokyo Bar Association and Tokyo Joint Law Office)
Hiroko Odake (Tokyo Bar Association, Tokyo Joint Law Office)
Takeshi Kimura (Tokyo Bar Association, Tokyo Joint Law Office)
Michiko Abe (Second Tokyo Bar Association, Yakumo Law Office)

How donations will be used

① Necessary expenses for filing a lawsuit (stamps, postage stamps, etc.) Approximately 30,000 yen ② Transportation expenses for witnesses, etc. ③ Fees for written opinion Approximately 200,000 yen ④ Attorney's fees Approximately 200,000 yen ⑤ Other (related to the lawsuit) Actual expenses such as printing costs Approximately 70,000 yen

*If there are any surplus donations, we will donate them to the Tokyo Bar Association Human Rights Relief Fund.

Donation Request

It is said that you can gauge a country's cultural level by looking at its penal institutions. Please support this important lawsuit, which will ensure the level of human rights in Japan, with your donations, no matter how small, so please make a donation.