Appendix I: Human Rights Watch Letter to Ministry of Justice

350 Fifth Avenue; 34" Floor Nev York, NY 10118-3299

July 31, 2023 Minister Ken Saito Ministry of Justice 1-1-1 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku Tokyo, Japan

Dear Minister Saito,

am writing on behalf of Human Rights Watch, a nongovernmental human rights organization that documents human rights violations and advocates for respect for human rights in more than 100 countries around the world. We opened an office in Tokyo in 2009

We have recently undertaken research focusing on human rights violations in women's prisons in Japan, and government policies towards women prisoners, for a report we plan to publish in late 2023. To ensure that the views of the Japanese government are reflected in our reporting, we would appreciate receiving your response to our findings. We request that the Ministry of Justice kindly respond to the eight questions in the appendix to this letter no later than August 21, 2023. Human Rights Watch is prepared to reflect in our report any written responses provided by the ministry.

Human Rights Watch conducted research on women's prisons in Japan in January and February 2017, and from April 2018 to January 2023. In-person research was halted from March 2020 to November 2022 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. We interviewed nearly 60 former prisoners, and 11 legal and justice reform experts.

While our research is not an exhaustive survey of all human rights violations that women prisoners in Japan face, we identified important trends and key issues in our interviews with former prisoners, lawyers, and academics. While Human Rights Watch was not granted access to prisons, we corroborated information from these interviews with multiple testimonies, media reports, government reports, and other official documents.

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We are particularly interested in learning about the latest steps taken by the Ministry of Justice to address the concerns raised below. key

Findings Key

Human Rights Watch's research on women's prisons in Japan focused on abuses by prison officials against prisoners.

Most notably, former prisoners told Human Rights Watch that women who are pregnant or the parents of young children are often denied opportunities to their children with them in prison; and suffer from physical abuse during pregnancy; labor, and post-partum recovery, including the use of restraints. Such abuses keep

Other former prisoners told Human Rights Watch that older prisoners face verbal limited resources and housing space. One transgender former prisoner said she was housed in a male prison, despite explicitly requesting that she be housed in a women'5 prison. Other former prisoners described excessively strict regulations enforced by prison guards with the threat of solitary confinement for disciplinary infractions, arbitrary use of solitary confinement with one instance lasting 28 seemingly arbitrary restrictions on contact with the outside world via letters, inadequate access to daily amenities, verbal abuse by prison guards, and inadequate access to health care including mental health services. days,

Human Rights Watch's research also focused on Japan's policies that apparently compound such abuses.

Most notably, Japan's justice system contains the necessary legislation to suspend prison sentences for non-violent women offenders, particularly those with young prosecutors to suspend a sentence based on reasons including, but not limited pregnancy; family responsibilities, age, and health. to,

Human Rights Watch found that Japan's prosecutors have not used this law sufficiently. Only 11 women prisoners out of 20,116 had their sentences suspended between 2017 and 2021. That figure also includes sentences suspended under article 480 ofthe Code of Criminal Procedure, which allows prosecutors to suspend a

Many women are also imprisoned for drug-related violations. While the Ministry of Justice currently provides 0 substance use disorder relapse prevention program in

women'5 prisons, some former prisoners told Human Rights Watch were forced dependency also described the access to mental health services such as counseling inevitably fuels recidivism. they drug

Japan is a party to the core international human rights conventions. Issues concerning criminal justice and the treatment of prisoners are found primarily in Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), and various international standards, such as the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules) . Many of Japan's current justice system and prison practices violate provisions of these conventions or contravene these standards.

Thank you for your time and attention to this important request, including answers to our questions and any other information you wish to provide. Please send your responses to Teppei Kasai, our Asia program officer in Tokyo, atl by August 2023 50 your responses can be reflected in our reporting. 21,

We thank you for your time and consideration of this important matter.

Sincerely;

Elaine Pearson Asia Executive Director Human Rights Watch