Despite the submission of new evidence demonstrating Ishikawa’s innocence, two appeals for retrial have been rejected, and the courts have not conducted any further investigation into the evidence, witnesses, or crime scene. Nor has any move been made to review the pre-trial detention system that allows suspects to be held without charge for extended periods of time, and false confessions to be forcibly extracted. This lack of internal review comes despite substantial international censure. The UN Human Rights Committee‘s response in 1998 to Japan’s Fourth Periodic Report under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) specifically criticizes the unequal access to evidence between prosecution and defense, and strongly recommends that the pre-trial detention system be reformed immediately to bring it in conformity with the Covenant.
As Japan has not ratified the First Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, which allows the UN Human Rights Committee to examine individual complaints related to alleged human rights violations, and because there is no Asian regional human rights body that can address such cases, the Japanese Supreme Court remains the ultimate adjudicator of the Sayama Case.
IMADR has launched the Sayama International Solidarity Campaign in an effort to garner international and domestic support.
- To make this campaign successful, your help is needed.
- Here are some things you can do to make a difference:
The link above will open a new window & take you to the petition hosting service Petition Online.com, which is hosting our Sayama Case retrial petition. Once you have signed the petition, just close the window to return to the Sayama Case site.
This link will take you to a page where you can send your letters of solidarity to us. You can also read letters of solidarity previously posted by users of this site as well as previous statements of solidarity recieved by IMADR.
Please use this link to view more details about the Sayama Solidarity Ribbon.
Please right click on the link above and choose “save to desktop” to download our leaflet to print out and spread the word.
