[refugee-rights] Japan: Not all foreigners are welcome

* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International *

17 May 2002
ASA 22/003/2002


The treatment of foreign nationals in detention facilities at
Japanese ports of entry reveals a disturbing pattern of human rights
violations, including ill-treatment and incommunicado detention,
Amnesty International said today in a new report Welcome to Japan?

Published as thousands of foreigners arrive in Japan for the World
Cup, the report reveals that each year thousands of foreign
nationals, many originating from developing countries, are singled
out for interrogation, detention and deportation. Some are denied the
right to seek asylum, while others are simply denied entry even
though they have valid travel documents. Since September 11, there
have been several cases of asylum-seekers who have been refused entry
because they were from Afghanistan or the Middle East region.

There are reports that detainees have been held in windowless cells,
sometimes for weeks without exercise, and denied access to legal
advice and medical treatment. Private security officers who are in
charge of these detention facilities, known as "Landing Prevention
Facilities", are known to have beaten some foreign nationals.
Detained foreign nationals have been forced to pay for their "room
and board".

Immigration officials conducting interviews with the detainees have
not provided adequate translation facilities and some detainees have
been forced to sign forms which they are unable to read.

Amnesty International is urging the Japanese government to uphold
international standards in the treatment of foreign nationals who are
subjected to this arbitrary "fast-track" detention - deportation
procedure. In particular to ensure that:

    no one is subjected to ill-treatment,
    any allegations of ill-treatment are investigated and the
    perpetrators are brought to justice,
    anyone detained is given access to legal advice, as well as advice
    from their embassy or consulate without undue delay,
    asylum-seekers are given access to fair asylum procedures and are
    not deported until their case has been assessed,
    staff are trained in human rights standards,
    independent inspectors are given regular and unrestricted access.


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