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NHK
20-05-2025
- NHK
Family of woman who died in immigration custody demands full release of video
The family of a Sri Lankan woman who died at an immigration detention facility in central Japan has filed another lawsuit demanding the full release of surveillance footage taken while she was in custody. Wishma Sandamali died at the facility run by the Nagoya Regional Immigration Services Bureau in Nagoya City on March 6, 2021 after complaining of ill health. She was 33-years-old. In 2022, her family filed a lawsuit with the Nagoya District Court seeking state redress. The state released as evidence about five hours of surveillance footage out of a total of 295 hours that was recorded. In February, the family requested the Nagoya bureau to release all the footage. But the bureau refused, saying the footage contains security information and releasing it might undermine operations to maintain order. Her family filed the lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court on Tuesday. Wishma's sister, Poornima, said the footage has not been fully released after four years. She said the footage belongs to her sister and family, and not the state. The Nagoya Regional Immigration Services Bureau said it will study the lawsuit and take appropriate action.
Japan Times
04-04-2025
- Japan Times
Family of Sri Lankan woman who died in custody to sue Japan for footage
The family of Wishma Sandamali, a Sri Lankan woman who died in 2021 while in immigration custody, plans to sue the Japanese government as early as May, demanding the full release of surveillance footage documenting her detention. Speaking at a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday, Wishma's younger sister, Wayomi, said, 'My family and I cannot accept this at all. We have the right to see everything.' The family is seeking to overturn a government decision to withhold portions of the footage, arguing the refusal is unjustified. Attorney Shoichi Ibusuki, representing the family, told reporters that the government's refusal suggests there may be 'inconvenient information for immigration authorities.' Wishma died at the age of 33 in March 2021 at a facility run by the Nagoya Regional Immigration Services Bureau. She had been detained since August 2020 for overstaying her visa, and her condition deteriorated in early 2021, with repeated vomiting in the weeks before her death. In 2022, the family sued the government in the Nagoya District Court seeking state redress, alleging that authorities failed to provide necessary medical care. The government has so far released about five hours of surveillance footage out of a total 295 hours recorded prior to her death. That footage was submitted as evidence in the ongoing civil case. According to the family's legal team, a separate request was made in February to disclose the entire archive of video footage. But on March 26, immigration authorities rejected the request, saying the footage contained information on 'security and safety measures' and its release could 'threaten public order.' The family plans to file a suit with the Tokyo District Court, seeking to overturn the nondisclosure decision. Translated by The Japan Times
