The JCLU committee on Human Rights of People with Mental Disabilities was established in 1983 and will soon celebrate its twentieth anniversary. At the time of its inauguration, the "Utsunomiya Hospital Incident" had just come to light, and many of our members were involved as representatives of victims. At that time society focused on the rights of mentally disabled persons, so the Committee was able to make some progress in securing rights for the mentally disabled. Such progress was achieved through lobbying activities such as submitting a general outline on amending the "Mental Health Law" to the Ministry of Health and Welfare (presently, the Ministry of Health and Labor) and submitting a counter-report to the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations.
The "Mental Health Law" has been repeatedly subject to minor revisions since the 1990's, and the title of the law changed to the "Law concerning the Preservation of Mental Health and the Welfare of the Mentally Disabled" in 1995. The amended law shows more consideration for the rights of mentally disabled persons than did the previous statute.
However, although blatant violations of human rights such as the "Utsunomiya Hospital Incident" were no longer conspicuous, the environment was never such that mentally disabled persons were truly respected as individuals. Thus, the activities of the Subcommittee stagnated.
In January 2001, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Public Health and Labor convened a joint committee to study the adjudication and "system of treatment" for mentally disabled persons who have committed serious crimes. So far, the committee has held six sessions enabling specialists to express their opinions. The first session was attended by psychiatrists, and the second, by Professor Akira Machino, a professor in criminal law and a JCLU director. The third session was attended by managers of a mental institution, and the fourth by attorneys. The fifth session was attended by more psychiatrists, and finally, the sixth session by prosecutors.
It is clear that the committee is leaning toward creating a "disposal system" regarding mentally disabled persons who have committed serious crimes. Regardless of whether it can be called a safety measure, this "system" differs from that which is provided by the present law.
On June 8, 2001, while the committee was being held, there was an incident involving the killing and wounding of twenty-three children at Ikeda Elementary School in Osaka. The fact that the man responsible for these acts had a history of being hospitalized in mental institutions and was still commuting to a mental institution at the time of the incident was reported on the news. The media then created a sentiment of "not letting the mentally disabled get off free."
Against the backdrop of this public sentiment, Prime Minister Koizumi said that the issue must be viewed as both "a medical issue and an issue of defective laws." As such, he has instructed that a Response Committee be created to address the situation. We fear that a new bill may be created on the basis of little more than the previous six sessions of the joint committee.
Since June of 2001, the Subcommittee has attempted to understand how the Japanese Government will attempt to respond to offenses committed by the mentally disabled. The Committee has voiced opinions from the standpoint of protecting the rights of the mentally disabled, but it is confronted by two difficult issues: (1) it is unable to see what methods the Government plans to take; and (2) it is having difficulty in developing an easily understood counter-argument to the emotionally-charged issue: "How can a mentally disabled person who has committed a crime be set free?"
The actions that the Government will take from now on are unpredictable. Thus, the Committee must be prepared, as soon as possible, with clear arguments. The meetings that the Committee will conduct are intended to provide a forum for debate, so all opinions are welcome. We hope to have as many members as possible participate in order to further expand our discussions. We look forward to your presence and participation.
Editor's Note: A project team of the Liberal Democratic Party reviewed new treatments for mentally disabled people who have allegedly committed serious crimes, such as murder, arson, rape, robbery, or assault, and concluded that a new system should be introduced for the proper treatment of these people. The team proposed in its final report, released on November12 2001, that in the case of acquittal or dismissal where the accused cannot bear responsibility for the crime due to mental illness, the treatment of the accused should be determined at the district court level by the newly established Council. According to the team's proposal, the Council will consist of the judge and a doctor of psychiatric medicine, and it will determine whether the accused should be involuntarily admitted to a mental hospital.
The government adopted this proposal and drafted a bill entitled "The Law on Medical Treatment and Observation of People Who Committed a Serious Crime under Mental Irresponsibility." The Cabinet proposed the bill to the House of Representatives on March18 2002. The JCLU Committee, led by Mr. Nakanishi, organized a public seminar on this bill on 25 May 2002. The bill is still pending as of 13 December.