Living on the Edge No. 35 - Diary of Mr. Yamano

January 9, 2002 (Wednesday)
I saw some eerie photographs yesterday. They were horrible. They were pictures of many babies born in Iraq, with deformities. The babies were born of parents who had been irradiated by depleted uranium shells used by the Americans and British during the Gulf War. They were unrecognizable as humans. Why do civilians have to suffer from such cruelty? The United States and the United Kingdom are both Christian nations. In their religious doctrines, both Christianity and Islam are supposed to be forbidding the wounding and killing of people. But in spite of this, the people of these countries are killing each other. When I saw the eerie pictures of those babies, I thought of the immensity, depth, and weight of human sin, and I found myself having to pray.

January 15, 2002 (Tuesday)
I only came to understand, after having gone through a trial as a confined defendant, that Japan's judicial system does not operate with justice, fairness or equality. Of those indicted by the prosecutors, 98% are found guilty, and the amount of penalties imposed comes to 85% of what is demanded by the prosecution. Only Japan has such incredibly high rates. However, this is not because police and prosecutors are skilled, or because judges are good. I believe it comes from the nature of the Japanese people. People seem to retain a consciousness of a division between authorities and the common people, just like the relationship that existed between the magistrate office and the commoners during the Edo Period.

When accused of any kind of crime, the defendant comes to be seen and looked down upon as a criminal by both the authorities and society at large, and is no longer treated as a human being. He or she is subjected to domineering and oppressive interrogations, indicted on heavier charges than the truth, and as long as there are no exceptional circumstances, the judges swallow it. The commoner defendant is ignorant, and, out of a feeling of submissiveness to the authorities, cannot put up much resistance. There are also few lawyers who are willing to work hard to find evidence that is advantageous to the accused. There is a sort of "market-price" verdicts, where the amount of punishment automatically reflects the contents of the indictment. The circumstances contained within each incident are practically never either investigated or examined. The verdict is given as with a rubber stamp. Even if the accused has a reason and is in the right, the emphasis put on evidence makes it impossible for he or she to cross swords with the prosecutors' legal arguments. Defendants, who do not have freedom, have neither money nor power, and cannot fight back against the enormous authority of the prosecution. I believe that lawyers need to have more power in Japan.

January 22, 2002 (Tuesday)
I sometimes listen to radio shows and listen to people who are called celebrities, intellectuals, or cultured people. Even such people, when confronted with the question of "capital punishment," inevitably speak as if it were something completely natural, and do not express any doubts. It is shocking. They seem to think that, as a matter of course, the death penalty is being carried out all throughout the world. This is just the reverse of the fact that many people in Europe don't know that capital punishment is used in Japan.

There was an article in yesterday's newspaper about a woman who came back to life 20 minutes after being declared dead by a doctor. Apparently she came back to life even as the funeral preparations were being made. What would have happened had she been registered as an organ donor? For transplants, it is best to take out the organs soon after a person's death, so it's possible that the woman might have been killed. Even the existence of one such case must make us cautious about the process of removing organs.

I had both the 20W and 10W fluorescent lights in my cell changed. Because my sight is getting weaker, and on top of that the ceiling is about 3 meters high, it's very difficult to read or write with a 20W bulb. Because of this, I have been allowed an extra 10W bulb, but fluorescent lights get dark as they get older, so I try to get them changed often. I've heard that in Tokyo, prisoners are allowed to have two 20W bulbs.

January 23, 2002 (Wednesday)
It is very cold today. Maria came to visit at about 10 o'clock a.m. She gave me a lot of good news. On the 17th of January, my second son's family, who live in Yokohama, had their second child, a girl. Both the mother and the baby are in excellent health. I thank God. With this addition, I am blessed with one boy and three girl grandchildren. Also, we received a large donation from a father in Nagasaki to use for the retrial. I am extremely grateful for this powerful donation. I give my thanks to Mother Mary and to Father Kolbe.

I also heard that Mr. M, a member of the Imaichi Church in Osaka, of which I am also a member, attended the meeting of my support group's secretariat and reported that the church would discuss how to support me. It is very encouraging.

Yesterday, the well-known Tokyo human rights lawyer, Makoto Endo, passed away at the age of 71. Mr. Endo was a man of integrity, who opposed the death penalty. He was an authentic and capable lawyer, and with his death we have lost a precious conscience.

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