Photo/Illutration The Osaka prison Marunouchi detention center in Wakayama city (Shunsuke Abe)

An inmate has appealed the rejection of her lawsuit against a detention center, which forced her to sit on her heels or cross-legged in a cell for around eight hours a day as a disciplinary measure.

The lawsuit is now before the Osaka High Court, after the Wakayama District Court in January sided with the government and the Osaka prison Marunouchi detention center in Wakayama city.

The 46-year-old plaintiff argued that the disciplinary measure taken against her violates Article 13 of the Constitution, which guarantees basic human rights.

“Forcing someone to look at a wall in a certain position for a long time is too severe,” she said.

The government argued that such “unavoidable restrictions” are necessary to maintain order at detention facilities, and that the rules “do provide time for the inmates to stand.”

The woman was held at the Marunouchi detention center after being indicted on charges that included violating the Stimulants Control Law.

In 2019, while awaiting trial, she was reprimanded for talking to another inmate in an adjacent cell, saying, “I also want to go to Wakayama prison.”

The act of talking to a person in another cell without permission was deemed a rule violation.

Since the woman was prohibited from meeting people, center officials said her actions could not be overlooked in terms of preventing evidence from being destroyed.

They also said her act could disturb the quiet environment of the facility.

After an internal review of her act, she was forced to spend five days in “disciplinary confinement.”

She was later found guilty at her criminal trial.

The Law on Penal Detention Facilities allows the head of a detention center to ban inmates from gaining access to books or send them to solitary confinement to maintain order.

Specific rules regarding these punishments are left to the discretion of the facility head.

According to the Marunouchi detention center’s guidelines issued in 2018, inmates should “sit from 7:40 a.m. to 4:25 p.m.” but can “stand for five minutes each in the morning and afternoon, excluding lunchtime.”

While sitting, “their knees should be positioned at the edge of the second tatami mat from the door,” and they should “face the door with slightly lowered eyes and sit on their heels or cross-legged,” the guidelines say.

In January, the Wakayama District Court rejected the lawsuit, saying the measures “cannot be said to be unreasonable in light of the purpose of solitary confinement, which is to encourage (inmates) to show remorse.”

Takayasu Tsugane, a lawyer representing the woman, disagreed with the ruling.

“Is it natural to force (inmates) to sit on their heels or cross-legged to make them show remorse in detention facilities?” he asked.

Related News