RIGHTS-JAPAN: Justice System Harsh on Foreigners – Activists

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Dec 22 2003 (IPS) - Reports about rising statistics of crimes committed by foreigners in Japan have put the spotlight on the vulnerability of non-Japanese in their host country’s justice and criminal procedures, say human rights activists here.

”Foreigners committing crimes often do not get a fair trial in Japan due to language and cultural disadvantages. With many of them lacking proper visas, they are already criminals when arrested, making them extremely vulnerable in this country,” says Yasushi Kigashizawa, a human rights attorney.

He says that foreigners tend to get heavy sentences as a result of poor interpretation during criminal proceedings and the use of confessions during police interrogations, where lawyers for the defendant may be absent.

Activists also point to Japan’s negligence in complying with human rights standards for prisoners – including the lack of medical care and the imposition of strict discipline. A new survey in October reveals that more than 34 percent of inmates in prisons have been assaulted, and that foreigners are most affected by this.

Mikiko Kyakuno, an activist, says her work with foreigners in prisons shows " deep-rooted racial xenophobia in the country against non-Japanese”.

Kyakuno belongs to the Govinda Support Group, a group of 12 Japanese volunteers supporting a Nepalese man who was sentenced to life imprisonment in October for a murder he has vigorously denied committing.

The case is seen by human rights advocates as a clear example of discrimination and hardship faced by foreign convicts in Japan.

Govinda Prasad Malinali is a suspect in the 1997 robbery and murder of a Japanese woman. He was arrested in 1997 supposedly on the grounds that he overstayed his visa but was later charged for the crime.

The Tokyo District Court declared him innocent owing to lack of evidence in 2000. But before he could be deported home, he was re-arrested without explanation and thrown back in jail. He was then retried – and was sentenced to death in October.

Kyakuno says she decided to join Govinda’s support group because she is convinced that he is innocent. "His lawyers have long complained against the final judgment and accused judges of making a verdict at the expense of a foreigner," she points out.

With his life sentence, Govinda faces a future that he has described as a " living hell”. Kyakuno says the strict discipline meted out in Japanese prisons, has caused Govinda, like other foreigners, to languish behind bars without much hope.

Among others, she says, those serving life sentences are only allowed tightly controlled visits from family members. Govinda cannot even speak to family members when they visit because they must use Japanese or English, the languages understood by his prison guards.

Letters between prisoner and family are also governed by the same rule. In addition, says Kyakuno, Govinda’s family does not have the financial means to spend long periods in Japan and must rely heavily on the support of Japanese activists who also do not have large budgets for such expenses.

"The arrest has caused Govinda and his family deep mental strain," explains Kyakuno.

At the same time, she says, Govinda is still lucky. "He has a strong support group and a sympathetic media in Japan. Compare that to the thousands of foreigners who face the same severe conditions but must languish in jail with no support at all," she points out.

The National Police Agency reports that more than 7,600 foreigners were arrested for crimes in 2002, up from 7,150 the previous year.

Chinese nationals were at the top of the list of those arrested in Japan – 3,632 in 2002, followed by Vietnamese at 583, and Koreans at 473. Still, the number of foreigners made up a minute figure among the overall number of arrests in 2002 of 285,000.

Nevertheless, the perception of foreigners being more responsible for crime continues. With prominent politicians in tow, the Japanese police has launched a widespread campaign to crack down on entrants from overseas.

Such sentiments, says attorney Higashizawa, who is now campaigning for a new human rights protection bill to be established in Japan, could easily lead to heavier sentences being slapped on foreigners.

As if a warning is the June lawsuit against two Chinese men who became the first foreign nationals to be sentenced to death in Japan when a judge found them guilty for the robbery and murder of three Japanese employees of a pachinko game parlour.

Ching Daiwei and He Li, both on student visas, were arrested with another Chinese who they claimed was their leader, in May 1992. The third man escaped to China and is on the international list of wanted people.

The arrested men confessed to the murder during a police interrogation that was conducted without an interpreter. They later withdrew their confession during their trial and have now appealed the death sentence.

Tomoya Uemura, head of the Group to Support China and He, says that during their trial, the interpreter, a Chinese national, spoke halting Japanese – and this greatly weakened their case.

Uemura also bemoans the heavy sentence laid down by a court that had no evidence from the absent Chinese leader of the group. ”It is hard to accept the judges’ verdict without proper evidence and testimony from the Chinese leader is imperative in this regard," she points out.

Non-governmental organisations and lawyers hope that efforts to have a new human rights panel , to comprise private and government legal experts and set to be deliberated in January, would allow an independent mechanism to scrutinise suspected violations by the police.