[Continued collection of signatures] Please help us collect signatures to demand that the immigration officials responsible for Suraj's death during government-sponsored deportation be prosecuted!

We would appreciate your help in signing the petition calling on the Prosecutorial Review Commission to impose compulsory prosecution.

On March 22, 2010, Abubakar Awudu Suraj (hereinafter referred to as Suraj), a Ghanaian national, died during government-sponsored deportation. In December of the same year, 10 immigration officials who accompanied the deportation were referred to the prosecutor's office on suspicion of assault and cruelty resulting in death by a special public official.
On July 3, 2012, two years and four months after the incident, the Chiba District Public Prosecutors Office found the 10 officials innocent of all charges and did not indict them. The decision was that Suraj's death was caused by a pre-existing heart condition, and that there was no causal relationship to the immigration officials' use of restraints during deportation (excessive use of unauthorized restraining devices).

Although the cause of death was unknown at first, we have serious doubts about the discovery of Suraj's heart disease, which the prosecution listed as the cause of death more than two years after the incident. Even if he had a heart disease, it is hard to believe that it developed completely unrelated to the restraining action. The fact that the immigration officials themselves stopped videotaping the deportation process makes us suspect that the restraint was so excessive and cruel that it could not be recorded.
It is clear that the actions of the immigration officials are worthy of prosecution. We believe that the decision not to prosecute is due to the prosecutors' lax judgment and distortion of the facts when it comes to immigration officials, who are essentially family members. Suraj's family also wants severe punishment. We ask for your cooperation in signing this petition, asking the Prosecutor's Review Board to carefully review this case and make a decision to forcibly prosecute.

The signature form can be downloaded below (PDF)

Japanese

English

Aggregation: (Special Activity) ASIAN PEOPLE'S FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY (APFS)
56-6-301 Oyama Higashicho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo
FAX: 03-3579-0197