Prison guard reprimanded for abuses

YOKOHAMA (Kyodo) A former guard at the Yokohama Prison was reprimanded for locking up an inmate in a garbage dump inside the prison and calling him names, prison officials said.

The big house: A guard mans the gate at the Yokohama Prison, where a former guard locked up an inmate in a garbage dump in 2005. KYODO PHOTO

During questioning by the prison, the guard, who is in his 30s, said, "I joked around," according to the officials.

The Yokohama Bar Association, which received complaints from the inmate over more than 10 counts of alleged human rights violations by three prison guards, is now looking into the case and may issue a warning to the prison.

The prison said it did not made the incident public because it did not meet its information dissemination standards.

"The incident is extremely regrettable and I would like to sincerely apologize for diminishing public trust in civil service," Atsushi Kasuga, director of the prison, said in a statement released Monday. "We will thoroughly instruct our staff not to cause any similar incidents again."

In June and July 2005, the guard locked the inmate, who is in his 20s, in the wired garbage dump for several seconds when the guard took him and other inmates, who were all working at a factory in the prison, to dispose of garbage, according to Yokohama Prison.

The guard also called the inmate "fatty" during the period from April to July.

The prison removed the guard from the factory post in October 2006, and he later quit.

The incident took place after a law aimed at improving the treatment of prison inmates and clarifying their rights was enacted in May 2005.

The inmate was convicted by the Tokyo District Court of violating the Stimulants Control Law in September 2004. The Tokyo High Court rejected his appeal that December and he was serving his term.

He complained to the bar association in 2006 that he fell victim to not just the confinement but also other kinds of abuse by three guards.