APFS Project to Support the Disaster Area (vol. 4): Day 2 April 4th (Thu) - 2nd day of the project

Real activities started. We helped with cleaning windows of temporary housing (am) and petit relax time (foot bath at the common space, pm) at the Taki no Sato Temporary Housing Complex in Rikuzen Takata City, Iwate,

In the temporary housing complex, we cleaned the windows on 86 units. While working, foreign national APFS members talked with residents. Exchanges start with one good word. There was an elderly gentleman who took out his records (pictures, newspaper articles) from after the earthquake. This gentleman does not have anything to do until the evening when his family comes home, so he was very much looking forward to having these exchanges. Mirza, our member from Pakistan, listened to his stories. He was very happy with the exchanges, and promised to upload it to a blog.

Also, there were exchanges between local children and one of our Bangladeshi members, Joy. He was asked to come to the ‘Petit Relax Time’ in the afternoon. It seems that the children were fascinated by the fact the Joy spoke Japanese fluently. Since Joy communicated so enthusiastically, even some children who could not leave the house due to the shock after the earthquake came to the door. This way we could report on the circumstances of such children to local personnel.

In the afternoon, we taught craftwork to children and provided foot bath to adults while having tea together (ochakko as they call it Iwate).

6 APFS members were responsible for the foot bath. All 6 of them have been living in Japan for long years, so they had a good grasp of it. They carefully massaged the feet of elderly people, for which recipients were very grateful. An Iranian member, Majid played soccer and volleyball with the children. Majid plays volleyball with his own children on a regular basis, so his shots were really something. Since there is no playground in Rikuzen Takata, the have to use the narrow streets in the temporary housing complex, so we felt that they must a lot of frustration.

Through this project, we could see that current problems are different from those right after the earthquake. After the disaster, survivors were preoccupied with everyday food and living. However, there were some people after 2 years who said the ‘sadness and suffering have built up, so we were finally able to cry’. During the morning window cleaning in the temporary housing units, we could see from decoration that many people had lost their family members.

In our stay, this was a day when we had to think about what we can do.

* Extra

To spare accommodation costs, we are preparing our own food in this project. The kitchen is full of the smell of curry.

Today’s menu was Sri Lankan food (spicy coconut beef stew) and Pakistani food (keema curry). There are fierce discussions in the kitchen around who prepares what.

We shared our table with Daikon-kon Project staff, and they seemed to enjoy the unknown flavors.

Report Meeting on Mr. Suraj’s Case

We held a report meeting about Mr. Suraj’s case on March 31^st 2013 at the Living & Industry Plaza in Ikebukuro.

We invited Counselor Kentaro Iida from the attorney team, who spoke about the legal developments in the case, especially the suit for state compensation in a clear and easy to understand manner.

The late Mr. Suraj’s wife and friends told us about their memories with him. The widow said that she felt the three years that have passed since the incident were in a sense short and at the same time long and painful.

There were around 50 participants. It was an opportunity to reconfirm our will with them to broaden the circle of support, so that we can let many more people know about the incident.

At APFS, we continue our activities to unravel the truth. Please let us have your support!

3 years after Mr. Suraj’s death…

Exactly 3 years ago from today, Mr. Suraj died during deportation.

The video recording of the deportation shows that Mr. Suraj was calm but very firm on that day to tell the immigration officers that he wanted to stay in Japan together with his wife. He was not agitated at all (a section of this video will be shown on May 13^th (Mon), the next court date in the trial for state compensation). Why did Mr. Suraj have to die for merely wanting to stay in Japan; we, as the support organization, would like to unravel the truth together with his wife by all means in the future. Please support us! * As we posted before, a Report Meeting on Mr. Suraj’s Case will be held on March 31^st (Sun). Please come!

The photo was taken in the Tokyo Mosque located in Yoyogi Uehara. It was sent by Mr. Suraj’s wife today together with a massage. She wishes that we remember him even for a moment in our busy day. She probably remembered Mr. Suraj at the mosque. We hope that the memories are not too harsh for her…

Conference on Mr. Suraj’s Case Held by the Minister of Justice

Today in the morning, Minister of Justice Taki held a report conference about investigation results on Mr. Suraj’s case.
Since former Minister of Justice Chiba previously decided to conduct an investigation about this case, the Immigration Bureau of the Ministry of Justice engaged in further investigation, and this time the results were reported, including the content of the decision for non-prosecution made in this year’s July.
The content of this report was identical to the Chiba Prosecutor Office’s reasons for the non-prosecution decision, that is throughout the incident restraining actions, usage of restrain equipment and first aid measures by immigration employees were all legal, and there is no causal relationship between actions taken by immigration and Mr. Suraj’s death.
What is irritating is that Minister Taki is reported to have said that Mr. Suraj’s family had been informed about these investigation results, while in fact they did not know at all about the investigation, its results and today’s conference. We have first heard about the conference when our organization was contacted by the press today after it had taken place. Later, several press companies contacted Mr. Suraj’s wife asking for comments, but she was confused by the situation first hearing about the content of the conference from the press.
These measures to investigate and report only on the government’s terms and to later say that they have fulfilled they responsibility to be accountable are nothing but insincere. I think that this situation in which the family is left behind clearly shows this country’s current level of human right awareness.

7th Hearing Held in Mr. Suraj’s Trial for State Compensation

November 19th (Mon) was the 7th court date in Mr. Suraj’s case.
This time, the plaintiff side made a proceeding report describing that a request was made for enclosure to crime victims which actually took place on October 12th, and that another request has been submitted to the prosecutor office for viewing of the video taken during the deportation process.
It was agreed upon that the plaintiff side lets the defendant side to have a look at the acquired information, and the defendant side will make an official statement by next time.
This time, the observer seats were not full. It is feared that as the trial is prolonged, this way the case may gather less interest. The next court hearing is on next year’s February 25th (Mon) from 4PM in Court Room No. 705. We hope that you will support us as an observer and may even invite other people around you who are interested.

We are still collecting signatures for Mr. Suraj !

  The final day for collecting signatures was today but after discussing with the lawyers we decided to extend it a little bit (to the middle of November probably).

 We have 955 signs right now but we are looking for more than 1000. Thanks for your cooperation !

 You can download the petition sheet on APFS website: http://apfs.jp/ Please send it by Fax or by post mail.

Mini Concert for the support of Mr. Suraj

 
 On the 27th of October, a concert was organized to raise money for Mr. Suraj in Kiss Café, in Nishi-Ogikubo. Theo, a French man who is volunteering at APFS, played the guitar along with a Japanese woman singing standards from Europe and America, along with popular Japanese songs. Half of the music charge for the support of Mr. Suraj.


Below is the report by Theo.

Support Concert for Mr. Suraj at Kiss Cafe, Nishi-ogikubo  on the 27th of October.

 On the 27th of October, APFS, Mr. Suraj's wife, friends and supporters gathered for a support concert event at the Kiss Cafe, in Nishi-Ogikubo, Tokyo.
Half of the entrance fee of 1,000 Yens was to be given to Mr. Suraj's wife to help her with the various expenses going along with her fight for the unveiling of the truth in the accident that led to her husband's death and for the prosecution of the Immigration Officers that were part of the deportation.

Reimi and I played music for about two hours, and the cafe, decorated by the numerous paintings of Abubakar Suraj, was completely full, showing once again the solid support behind this fight.

Several dozens of signatures were gathered for the forced prosecution of the officers, which is always a great help.

Thanks to all of you who participated, we hope to do it again in the near future.