Forced to defecate in front of others… The spectacular reality of “inmate bullying” at Kochi Prison

Last December, an assault by a prison guard on an inmate at Nagoya Prison became a social problem. In the background, it was discovered that “inmate bullying” was also taking place at Kochi Prison. Following the first part, “Nagoya Prison was not the only one… Accusations of ‘inmate bullying’ at Kochi Prison! we present the following account of the cruel treatment that Mr. Kiyoshi Ishikawa (pseudonym) received, based on his letter and the testimony of his adoptive father who received the letter.

The prison guards also made it difficult for Mr. Kiyoshi while he was working on his prison work.

I heard that when the prison guard saw the mask Kiyoshi was wearing, he pointed out that it was ‘out of place. Kiyoshi apologized, saying, ‘I understand. I’m sorry,’ he apologized, but after a little while he was warned, ‘You’re off again, aren’t you? Kiyoshi apparently explained, ‘This is really not on purpose,’ but it was taken as a ‘defense’ (by Ishikawa’s foster father).

Mr. Ishikawa was punished with a two-week ban for wearing a misplaced mask, and his factory was changed again. Here, Mr. Ishikawa was ordered to go to a new factory called “Factory 5,” but he stubbornly refused.

There is a secret phrase in the prison, ‘pigeons are flying in,’ and it seems that information is exchanged among the inmates,” he said. In this way, Kiyoshi learned that he knew some of the inmates who worked at the five factories. Kiyoshi wanted to avoid contact with them at all costs.

The acquaintance is said to be a former boyfriend of Mr. Ishikawa’s mother and a gangster. Before entering prison, Mr. Ishikawa lived with his mother and knew that she was suffering from violence from this man. On one occasion, the man visited her mother and Ms. Ishikawa got into a fierce fistfight with him.

Ms. Ishikawa was so determined to avoid trouble in prison that she told the prison officials about her past circumstances, but they did not listen to her. In the letter to his adoptive father, also quoted in the previous section, Mr. Ishikawa also described his feelings when he refused to go to the five factories.

I knew I wasn’t going to run away, but I had no other choice but to protect myself in this way… I really feel why I had to do such a disgraceful and pathetic thing.

Despite his conflicted decision, the prison guard said the following words to him.

If you get an increased sentence (if the trouble develops into a criminal case), it won’t matter if you get another fight and come back, there will be people who will try to make you fight, or fight with you, or hurt you, but if you just give up, you’ll be fine. Ishikawa told them that it would be all right if they just held back.

It was as if the prison guard was condoning trouble and fights between inmates. In fact, in January of this year, after Mr. Ishikawa’s third disciplinary punishment, the prison guard ordered him to work at the five factories again.

I’ll make you go to the same place as many times as you want.

Mr. Ishikawa said he also heard these words from the prison guard.

In June last year, the Penal Code was revised to abolish the two punishments of imprisonment and imprisonment without work, and to unify them into a single punishment of confinement (the revision is expected to take effect in 2013). The aim is to place more emphasis on recidivism prevention education and correctional guidance, while allowing prisoners to engage in prison work. However, Mr. Ishikawa’s letter reveals that, at the very least, the current Kochi Prison is far from such a philosophy.

When I was taking a shit in the toilet in my cell…I had a little pain in my stomach and I was taking a shit for a little while longer, my father (a code word between Mr. Ishikawa and his foster father indicating a prison guard) told his cellmate Riko’s companion (another inmate in the same cell), “Ishikawa, what are you doing in the toilet, go and see what I’m doing,” and Riko’s companion told him to go and see me. And then he made his cellmate Roko’s companion go watch me pooping in the bathroom, and then he made her go watch me pooping in someone else’s ass, right? It’s unbelievable… letting a convict go see another convict take a shit?

Mr. Ishikawa’s adoptive father has always visited his son on the twice-monthly visits he is allowed. The last time he saw him was on January 10. Mr. Ishikawa said that he was punished for closing his home for the fourth time because he again refused to work at the five factories.

Seishi is a strong person to the core, so when I last saw him, he never showed any weakness. I told him to appeal in writing why he did not want to work at Factory 5, using a system called “Gansen,” in which prisoners make an appeal to the prison or other authorities. It seems that the petition was addressed to the warden of Kochi Prison and the Ministry of Justice, but it was turned back at the end of last year.

When we questioned the Kochi Correctional District, which has jurisdiction over the Kochi Prison, about the facts of the case based on the appeal by the father and son of Mr. Ishikawa, the District answered, “We will refrain from answering from the standpoint of personal information.

Attorney Teppei Ohno, who serves as executive director of the NPO Prison Human Rights Center, said, “The act of letting others peek in on you while you are defecating is malicious. Even for prisoners, there should be no violation of their right to privacy.

However, it is not always clear what specific punishments will be imposed for what kind of behavior, and there is an aspect of arbitrariness. However, it is too serious to impose a closed-door punishment simply for explaining the situation to a prison guard who has been warned, or for a worn mask that has slipped off. As for complaints, the Criminal Inmate Treatment Law states that the Minister of Justice must handle complaints in good faith, and there should be no response of returning the complaint.

In order to shed light on the issue of treatment in prisons, a third-party organization called a “domestic human rights organization” must be established, which can receive complaints from individual inmates and, if necessary, issue recommendations to prisons and other institutions.

The last letter is from Mr. Ishikawa, written on January 5.

I know that the prison staff may think of us inmates as nothing more than the scum and trash of society, but… I wish they would see us as more human beings, even though we are all trying our best to face our crimes and rehabilitate ourselves in our own way while living here in this prison. It is true that we have committed crimes in this world and we are here. But we are struggling desperately now to get rid of our sins.

I wonder how the prison guards will listen to these words.

Interview and text by Naoyuki Miyashita (nonfiction writer)
naoyukimiyashita@pm.me