'Forced confessions' in Japan

[Tokis-Phoenix]

"The Japanese have one of the lowest crime rates in the developed world.

But 99% of all people accused of breaking laws here are found guilty.

If you are innocent but accused of a crime, unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, there are few safeguards to protect you.

Sachio Kawabata and his wife Junko live on the southern island of Kyushu .

Their lives were turned upside down early one morning when police came to question Mr Kawabata.

They were accusing him - falsely - of buying votes to help secure the election of his wife's cousin, a local politician.

They took him in for questioning and subjected him to extraordinary pressure trying to make him confess.

A court later acquitted all those police had connected with the crime.";


Full story;


BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | 'Forced confessions' in Japan




""The head of Amnesty International in Japan is Makoto Teranaka. His organisation wants to see the system reformed.

"It is torture," he insists, "psychological torture. Under this system I think Japan is not a society where you have fair trials."

"The detective lifted up Mr Kawabata's legs and made him stamp on sheets of paper which had his loved ones' names on. He made him do it 10 times."

"I will never forget the sound of the spring on the door when it opened and closed when they locked me in the interrogation room. I can still hear the sound in my ears. I can never forgive them.""





Woah....A darker side to Japan's system of justice is revealed, huh? Pretty appalling at least by the sound of this guys case at the least if you ask me.

 

[Ewok85]

I wouldn't say its been revealed, its been known about and heavily protested for years. Did you know they still do not keep audio or video records of interrogations and rely on written confessions in court?!

 

[tokapi]

I wouldn't say its been revealed, its been known about and heavily protested for years.

Fell on deaf ears ....

 

[Mike Cash]

I have quite a collection of Japanese language books on the matter which would alarm you far beyond anything you may have read in that article.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I have quite a collection of Japanese language books on the matter which would alarm you far beyond anything you may have read in that article.

Really? What kind of info do your books contain?

 

[nice gaijin]

I was once with a friend as we were taken to a police station for riding "stolen" bicycles. They tried to get my friend to sign a confession, saying it was just acknowledgement that they were going to retain the bike he was on (despite the fact that it had been used by the apartment tenants for years and that he had the key, it wasn't registered to the person we thought it was). Fortunately the temple priestess that owned the apartment was there to vouch for him and threw a fit when she saw the confession.

Thankfully, that's as bad as I've witnessed it firsthand. I'm sure Mike's material is far more horrifying.

 

[Elizabeth]

I wouldn't say its been revealed, its been known about and heavily protested for years. Did you know they still do not keep audio or video records of interrogations and rely on written confessions in court?!

The police don't even keep a written record or log of the interrogation sessions.

A movie some folks might be interested in was made to tell one of the more infamous miscarriages of justice. It's the true story of a man who was accused of molesting a schoolgirl on a crowded train and refused adamantly to sign a confession. Not that even a confession is guarantee of anything in groping cases. He still spends three months in jail until trial before the first conviction. Apparently the courts routinely take the woman's word without any physical or corroborating evidence whatsoever.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ff20070105a1.html

 

[pugtm]

sheesh if this is all true why isn't japan being busted on by the un and other countries. the US gets it for doing it to terrorists but japan gets off on doing it to regular civilians? double standard anyone?

 

[Mike Cash]

Really? What kind of info do your books contain?

Forgive me, but I've typed it up so many times over the years that I really don't feel like doing it again. I'm sure a search would turn up posts I've made both here and to usenet.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

sheesh if this is all true why isn't japan being busted on by the un and other countries. the US gets it for doing it to terrorists but japan gets off on doing it to regular civilians? double standard anyone?

I don't know, maybe this article by the bbc will become something bigger if more important/influential people take notice of it...?
The problem is it is always difficult for us as foreigners to delve into the buisness of other people, japan probably isn't as difficult a case as somewhere really corrupt like burma, but i am sure japans system of injustice cannot go on forever with no much being done/changed about it.

 

[Elizabeth]

sheesh if this is all true why isn't japan being busted on by the un and other countries. the US gets it for doing it to terrorists but japan gets off on doing it to regular civilians? double standard anyone?

I don't know what you mean by "busted" -- there's not going to be sanctions or anything but the UN and all the human rights groups are strongly agitating for a fairer system.


http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3dfc6122-08ca-11dc-b11e-000b5df10621.html?nclick_check=1

 

[pipokun]

It must be the problem if the media would not covered the story.

For the government convenience, non-Japanese prisoners are usually put into the international prisons like the one in Fuchu, Tokyo. A program of NHK covered the unusual situation, mixing up the first time offenders and repeated offenders in the same prison.
Yu Sato, an ex-diplomat, who had been arrested for unreasonably politicised cases, complained that Japanese prisoners cannot read non-Japanese books/papers which non-Japanese can read.

 

[leonmarino]

I don't have a lot of time to post now, but this topic reminds me of a movie I saw this year.
Sore demo boku wa yattenai.
Oh, here an Economist article that might interest you.

Later!!

 

[Pachipro]

The police don't even keep a written record or log of the interrogation sessions.

Not true! I know from first hand experience during my ordeal with marajuana 20 years ago. Has the law since changed? As I was interrogated by one detective, another one wrote down everything I said and I was allowed to read it or have it translated by a person of my choosing before I signed it. Lucky for me I was quite fluent back in the day and could read it myself.

Maybe it was because they knew I could read and speak I don't know, but I am sure there are horror stories from those that cannot understand the language.

My advice to anyone undergoing interrogation after being arrested or brought in is to demand that it be recorded in writing or on tape if that is even possible. If not, DON'T sign anything until you KNOW what it says! Your signature could mean your imprisonment especially if you are innocent.

 

[DoctorP]

My advice would be to not say anything. At all. Do not even answer questions such as "Do you feel allright?" "Would you like to speak to your family?" Stay silent. Even in the US they tell you "anything you say can be held against you in a court of law" (paraphrased)

If you don't understand what is being said to you, assume that they do not understand you as well, and maintain silence until you are able to see legal counsel or family.

 

[Pachipro]

Even in the US they tell you "anything you say can be held against you in a court of law"

Full quote: Anything you say can and WILL be held against you in a court of law."

In Japan it WILL! It was against me and I really learned a lesson for thinking "I will be honest and truthful" and I may get a lighter sentence for being so honest. BIG mistake.

Take Dr P's and my advice: say nothing! They can only hold you for a set period of something like 21 or 26 days (I forget) without anyone knowing where you are. No phone calls, no nothing. It's just as if you vanished from the face of the earth. But if you don't succumb, you may just get off. Not a pleasent experience, but if you're truely innocent say nothing and sign nothing!

In my case they had me fair and square, but I talked too much and it was used against me. Again SAY NOTHING!

 

[DoctorP]

I originally had the "will" part in there...but took it out because I was being too lazy to look up the actual quote. Thanks Pachipro!

 

[weijin88]

Actually such things are very common in China.

 

[pipokun]

My advice would be to not say anything. At all. Do not even answer questions such as "Do you feel allright?" "Would you like to speak to your family?" Stay silent. Even in the US they tell you "anything you say can be held against you in a court of law" (paraphrased)

In that case, the court probably judges that you have no sign of regret for what you did.
Stay away from crimes.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

My advice would be to not say anything. At all. Do not even answer questions such as "Do you feel allright?" "Would you like to speak to your family?" Stay silent. Even in the US they tell you "anything you say can be held against you in a court of law" (paraphrased)
If you don't understand what is being said to you, assume that they do not understand you as well, and maintain silence until you are able to see legal counsel or family.

Hm thats very interesting, if i ever get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time in Japan then i will not say a thing until i am able to see legal counsel or family etc .

 

[Mike Cash]

In Japan you will not be able to see legal counsel during your interrogations, so you can forget about that. You will not be able to have them present while you are questioned. You will not be able to consult with them before or after questioning. You get a lawyer once you've been formally charged, and the prosecutor doesn't formally charge you until you've made a confession. Start to see where those 99% conviction rates come from?

The police may or may not choose to tell your family that you have been arrested and are in custody, according to their mood and whether it suits their purposes or not. At any rate, you will not be allowed contact with them.

The smart thing to do when you get picked up is to request the 当番弁護士 (touban bengoshi: bar association lawyer whose turn it is on stand-by) and to request to meet with a representative from your embassy.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

In Japan you will not be able to see legal counsel during your interrogations, so you can forget about that. You will not be able to have them present while you are questioned. You will not be able to consult with them before or after questioning. You get a lawyer once you've been formally charged, and the prosecutor doesn't formally charge you until you've made a confession. Start to see where those 99% conviction rates come from?

The police may or may not choose to tell your family that you have been arrested and are in custody, according to their mood and whether it suits their purposes or not. At any rate, you will not be allowed contact with them.

The smart thing to do when you get picked up is to request the 当番弁護士 (touban bengoshi: bar association lawyer whose turn it is on stand-by) and to request to meet with a representative from your embassy.

That sucks, it makes me wonder who the japanese prioritise most in their system of "justice".
I know we've made a lot of mistakes in our western style systems of justice, but with the way Japans system of justice is sounding right now, i'd way prefer to be caught in the wrong place at the wrong time in England than somewhere like Japan .


Anyways, this quote of yours belows raises some questions for me;

"The police may or may not choose to tell your family that you have been arrested and are in custody, according to their mood and whether it suits their purposes or not. At any rate, you will not be allowed contact with them."



If i disapeared one day my family/friends/fiance would start to look for me almost straight away.
If the japanese police do not always contact family members of suspects, then do they tell other police in other police stations at all? Because if the person goes "missing" because the police have them in custody and no one in the general public knows this apart from the police involved with the investigation of the suspect (who happen to be keeping the suspect without allowing the suspect any contact with the world outside of the police station), surely this could waste precious time for concerned relatives looking for their missing family member and so cause them unesarsary grief in doing so etc?

I just don't see how preventing the suspect from having any contact with the outside world like family members to be much of a positive thing- i think the suspect should at least be able to have a recorded and supervised phone call with a relative of their choice. What do you think?

 

[pipokun]

As Japan ages, prisons adapt to going gray
By Norimitsu Onishi Published: November 3, 2007
ONOMICHI, Japan: In the prison's brightly lighted workroom here, 47 inmates sat behind long tables and quietly performed their chores.
...
The prison population is aging in the United States, too, but that is a result mostly of long mandatory sentences and restrictive parole practices. In Japan, by contrast, the rise is being driven by crime, mostly nonviolent.
From 2000 to 2006, the number of older inmates soared by 160 percent, to 46,637, from 17,942, according to Japan's National Police Agency. Shoplifting accounted for 54 percent of the total in 2006 and petty theft for 23 percent.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/03/asia/03japan.php

This is the it's-you-Onishi-again article, but it is true that Japan has the voluntery prisoners.
After the infamous 100 year old jail law was revised, I am wondering how the post-war babyboomer will act in the near future.
Typo: Yu is my friend name. Masaru Sato is the guy. His book, gokuchuki, is an interesting book to read.

 

[Calchas]

Interesting post. But you can find these police horror stories in a lot of countries. USA has them so does Mexico. At least in Japan I have not heard of cops killing people because they thought they where in danger and then apologizing later when it was all a mistake. An occurance that happens all too often here in the states.