OSAKA--A Japanese-Peruvian man detained in the Osaka Regional Immigration Bureau filed suit against the Japanese government for alleged physical and mental abuse with the Osaka District Court on Feb. 20.

The man in his 40s said immigration officers at the facility fractured his arm when they restrained him and later kept him in handcuffs behind his back for more than 14 hours.

He is seeking 2.16 million yen ($19,395) in damages.

“The officers' acts were degrading and tantamount to torture,” said Maya Kawasaki, the lawyer representing the detainee. “The Osaka immigration office needs to be held accountable.” 

The man has been held at the facility since August 2017 for overstaying his visa.

In December that year, officers used excessive force to restrain him, which fractured his arm, according to his complaint.

The man said officers rushed him after he complained about having to eat “fried food and sauteed burdock again and again” and refused to eat lunch.

He said officers then cuffed his hands behind his back and stuck him in an observation cell.

Later they removed the handcuffs, but applied them again the same night and held him down. He was kept handcuffed until the next day, he said.

The plaintiff’s lawyer said the man did not resist and insisted that officers had broken the law by using excessive force.

“We have not read the complaint yet, so we are unable to comment on it,” a representative of the Osaka Regional Immigration Bureau said.