Photo/Illutration The East Japan Immigration Center in Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

To restrict someone's freedom means to take on the responsibility of safeguarding that person's life.

To ensure that every immigration officer is fully cognizant of their duties, a close examination is in order.

In the case of a Cameroonian man who died in detention eight years ago at the East Japan Immigration Center in Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture, the Mito District Court on Sept. 16 held the center responsible and ordered the Japanese government to pay 1.65 million yen ($11,480) in damages to the deceased's mother.

The verdict noted that had the man been rushed to an emergency hospital, he might have had a chance of survival, although the court was not in a position to know the outcome for certain.

The man had been complaining of chest pains from before and was on prescription drugs. On the night before his death, there was something definitely wrong with him--he was moaning and falling out of the bed, but the staff made no attempt to take him to a doctor.

He was found in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest 12 hours later.

The verdict stated to the effect, "The Immigration Bureau is duty bound to protect and maintain the detainee's life, personal safety and health by taking appropriate steps in keeping with general health care practices."

This is totally correct, and the immigration officers concerned deserve every consequence of their failure to live up to their duties.

After the Cameroonian's death, the East Japan Immigration Center started having a full-time doctor on duty. But for this key operation center that services eastern Japan, the decision was long overdue.

Under the Regulation for Penal Institutions and Treatment of Inmates based on the Immigration Control Law, the heads of immigration detention centers are required to ensure that every injured or sick detainee is seen by a medical doctor.

Could it be possible that this regulation has effectively become a dead letter? The nation's health care system for detainees needs to be thoroughly re-examined and overhauled if necessary.

Since the novel coronavirus pandemic, more detainees have been temporarily released to avoid overcrowding at detention centers. But since these individuals are not covered by national health insurance, they cannot receive the treatment due to them at detention centers, and this is becoming a new problem.

In the Mito trial, the attorneys representing the deceased man's family obtained video footage from the surveillance camera inside his cell as part of the process of examination and preservation of evidence, and built their case around it.

But in almost all other instances, such evidentiary materials are in the hands of the Immigration Bureau and practically impossible for outsiders to access.

Since 2007, 17 foreigners have died of illnesses or committed suicide while in detention. For their bereaved families trying to uncover the truth, the difficulty of gathering evidence remains insurmountable.

In the lawsuit over the death of Wishma Sandamali, the Sri Lankan woman who died in detention at the Nagoya Regional Immigration Bureau, the Japanese government refused to disclose video footage in its possession until ordered by the court this month to submit it.

Since the legitimacy of the immigration officers' actions is being examined in court, disclosing the footage and awaiting the court's verdict is the only correct decision for the Nagoya Regional Immigration Bureau to make as a public entity.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 21

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