In response to the problem of Nagoya Prison prison officers repeatedly beating and inappropriately treating inmates, Nagoya Prison sent documents to 13 prison guards on suspicion of assault and abuse of special public servants. In line with this, the Corrections Bureau of the Ministry of Justice took disciplinary action against a total of 33 people.
At Nagoya Prison, from November to September last year, 11 prison guards repeatedly beat and treated three inmates inmates, including slapping their faces and hands and spraying them with alcohol spray.
The prison guards involved explained that they were angry because they did not follow instructions and shouted and repeated requests.
The Corrections Bureau of the Ministry of Justice conducted an investigation, and Nagoya Prison sent documents to the prison on suspicion of assault of a special public servant for malicious assault of 9 prison guards in their 22s and 3s.
In line with this, the Corrections Bureau of the Ministry of Justice took disciplinary action against 20 people who were sent documents, and three of them, the most severe suspension of six months, resigned on the 30th.
In addition, a total of 13 people, including the remaining prison guards who were not sent documents and their superiors, including the current and former Nagoya prison chiefs, were given warnings and strict cautions.
Shinsuke Nishioka, Counselor of the Corrections Bureau of the Ministry of Justice, apologized to those involved and the inmates who were victims, and said that "there was a lack of awareness of human rights among the staff."
An investigation into this problem is underway by a third-party committee of experts to determine the cause.
Director-General Hanamura, Corrections Bureau, Ministry of Justice: "Thorough efforts to prevent recurrence"
In response to this incident, Hirofumi Hanamura, Director-General of the Corrections Bureau of the Ministry of Justice, said, "It is truly regrettable that it has seriously damaged the trust in the correctional administration, and I would like to express my deepest apologies to the victims and everyone involved. We will thoroughly prevent recurrence."
Expert: "Reforming the organizational culture rooted in prisons is important"
Experts say it is important to reform the organizational culture rooted in prisons.
Professor Koichi Hamai of the Center for Corrections and Protection at Ryukoku University, who is an expert in prison management and prison officer education, said, "In prisons, prison officers have inherited an organizational culture in which if inmates lick them, they will not be able to maintain discipline and order will be disturbed.
In Nagoya Prison in particular, although assaults on inmates by prison guards have been a problem in the past, they have occurred again, suggesting that such an organizational culture may have remained deeply rooted.
Professor Hamai, who has also served as a lecturer for prison officer training, said that most of the prison officers involved this time were young people in their 3s and 20s who had been hired for less than three years, and that the same satisfactory training as before was not conducted due to the influence of the corona disaster. Even if they were treated incorrectly in Nagoya Prison, they probably didn't realize that it was something special."
In order to prevent recurrence, he pointed out that "we must reform our organizational culture and change the way we conduct new employee training."