List of Issues:

1. Control by Employees of Private Companies
   
   

   Is it a fact that employees of private companies directly control prisoners who are working at prison labor? If so, does it not violate Article 8 of the Covenant and Article 2, Paragraph 2(c) of the ILO Convention Concerning Forced Labor, to which Japan is a party?
   
   

2. The Prohibition against Looking to One Side and Conversations in Prison Factories
   
   

   In prison factories detainees are prohibited from looking away from their work or talking to each other or to the warders. Monthly payment for their work is about 3,000 yen per person, which is less than 1% of the average for workers outside of prison. Should not these practices fall under "forced or compulsory labor" of Article 8 of the Covenant?

Background:

1. Prison work is recognized as forced labor, which is not precluded under Article 8 of the Covenant, but if it is the case that employees of private companies directly control the prisoners who are doing forced labor it becomes forced labor that is prohibited under Article 2, Paragraph 2(c) of the ILO Convention concerning Forced Labour. It is not rare that employees of private companies give instructions at the prison factory, and such practices have been addressed by the U.S. Congress. It is necessary for the Japanese government to clarify its views regarding this practice that violates Article 8, Paragraph 3(b) of the Covenant, and Article 2, Paragraph 2(c) of the ILO Convention Concerning Forced Labor.
   
   
2. In Japan, detainees are prohibited from looking away from their work or talking to each other at prison factories, and the payment for their compulsory work is quite low. Prison work under such strict regulations inflicts extreme pain upon the convicts, and thus falls under the forced labor section of Article 8 of the Covenant.