"Sign the petition against appealing the Suraj case in the national compensation lawsuit" (submitted on March 28th)

Suraj during his lifetime

【notice】
We submitted 1,354 signatures to the Ministry of Justice on Friday, March 28th.
Thank you all for your cooperation.

On March 22, 2010, Abubagar Awudu Suraj, a Ghanaian national (hereinafter referred to as Mr. Suraj), died while being deported at government expense. The death occurred when immigration officials accompanying him forcibly restrained him using handcuffs, towels, and personal zip ties, which are not permitted by regulations. Four years have already passed since Mr. Suraj's death.

On Wednesday, March 19, 2014, the district court handed down its ruling in the national compensation lawsuit in the case of Mr. Suraj. The court ordered the defendant (the state) to pay approximately 2.5 million yen each to the plaintiffs (Mr. Suraj's wife and his mother).

The court first determined that there was a causal relationship between the actions of the immigration officer and the cause of death, and that the officer's restraint caused the victim to have difficulty breathing and ultimately "suffocate."

Next, regarding the illegality of the immigration officers' actions, the court ruled that they were "illegal" because, despite Suraj's resistance having subsided, the immigration officers forced him into a dangerous bent-over position, and such restraint exceeded necessity and reasonableness.
This ruling directly rejects the government's claims and is a groundbreaking decision.

On the other hand, the verdict cited Suraj's actions, including his suicidal remarks, and stated that these actions "incited illegal suppression." Neither Suraj's wife nor his support group are satisfied with this point.
However, given the great significance of this ruling, Suraj's wife and the support group APFS have decided to respect this decision.

Meanwhile, the government (Immigration Bureau of the Ministry of Justice) has commented to the media that "we will consider our next steps after thoroughly reviewing the judgment." There is a strong possibility that the government will appeal.

For the government to take this ruling seriously and not appeal, we need the support of many people now more than ever. Please sign the "Don't Appeal" petition. Also, please encourage your family, friends, and others around you to do the same.
The appeal period is set at within two weeks after the judgment. We need to collect signatures as soon as possible and submit them to the government. Please send us your signatures promptly.

★You can download the signature form from the link below.
Please send the signature form so that it arrives at the recipient's address by [March 28th (Fri) 12:00].
If mailing will not arrive in time, please use fax (03-3579-0197).
Japanese version
English Version

★We are also collecting signatures on the electronic signature site "change.org".
Please visit the website at the URL below and sign the petition.
The deadline for this is also the same: [March 28th (Fri) 12:00].
Please send your final message to your friend.
http://goo.gl/iPuX9V