Facilities for criminally insane stalled
Atsuko Kinoshita / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
The government is unsure when it will be able to begin construction of asylums for the criminally insane, due to opposition from those living near proposed sites.
A bill passed in July last year states that facilities aimed at treating and reintegrating into society criminally insane people who have committed serious crimes should be completed by July 2005. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry had planned to begin construction on six such facilities, but so far, ground has not been broken on any of them.
The facility "may be more frightening than a nuclear power plant," one 61-year-old man said at the meeting.
Replacing the current system of forced hospitalization, the new system aims to help criminally insane people return to a normal life, with judicial authorities, medical experts and local communities working together.
...One unforgettable memory residents of Higashisefurison have is of a 17-year-old boy who received inpatient treatment at the center.
In May 2000, he committed a bus-jacking when he left the center for a permitted overnight trip, killing one passenger on an express bus and injuring four others.
