United Nations
Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon
Japanese Association for the Right to Freedom of Speech
Office: 3-6-9 Motookubo Narasino-si Chiba-ken 275-0012
Japan
25 May 2012
For Put an End to Oppressions in Japan, Still in Her Isolation as in Feudal Era, and Pave the Way to the Thorough Application of International Instruments Related to Human Rights Through Full Establishment of Political Rights!
We request the following:
1. To send periodically a Special Reporter until the ratification of the First Optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the establishment of political rights.
2. To immediately send a Special Reporter to Japan for investigating the state of the right to freedom of speech;
3. Revision of Article 9 of the Constitution is against the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Japanese Government is not entitled to be a candidate for the UN Human Rights Council.
At the examination of the report of Japan in the UPR in coming October, to pay attention to the ratification of the Optional Protocol mentioned above and the revision of the Law on the Election of Public Office and the Law on Public Personnel; to urge an early enactment of a law prohibiting “war propaganda” based on Article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; to continue to advice NGOs and to supervise and advice the Japanese government until such law is enacted.
4. To early examine the 3rd National Report of Japan for the UPR and the 2nd National Report of Japan concerning the UN Convention against Torture.
5. The Japan Students Support Organization that provides scholarships to one third of college students has begun making a “black list” of those students who fail to reimburse their loan for three consecutive months. Already 10,000 students have been registered in the Personal Credit Information Organization. To urge the Japanese government to cancel its reservation of Article 13 2(B) and (C) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and to make quickly free secondary and higher education without any discrimination.
In Japan, the police, the prosecution and the judiciary consider as a crime the distribution of tracts critical to the Government by citizens. Since the dispatch of self-defense troops to Iraq in 2003 in violation of Article 9, citizens who distributed tracts criticizing the Government were arrested one after another. Last year, the fourth of six such cases was judged guilty by the Supreme Court and the accused had no right to appeal. (to know more about the six cases, pls refer to the report of our Association regarding the fifth National Report of Japan reviewed by the Committee). In Japan where the right to franchise is yet to be fully established and the chilling effect of repression prevents democracy to work, Diet members and heads of municipalities who belong to a majority are pushing through policies to adversely amend Article 9 of the Constitution with the aim to enable Japan to make war again and to accustom citizens to obey the authorities.
In 1979 when Japan ratified the two International Covenants on human rights, the Diet unanimously voted a resolution for an early ratification of the First Optional Protocol. In spite of this, the Government has failed until now to comply with the International Covenants and the Committee’s recommendations. Even after the Great Earthquake on March 11, 2011, it continues to neglect the ratification of individual complaint system. In addition, it has refused to abrogate the repressive articles contained in the Law on the Election of Public Office and the National Personnel Law that violate the right to vote of citizens. While the people are suffering from the heavy damage of the natural catastrophe, the government does not take a position to provide them adequate relief and support. Such an attitude poses a humanitarian problem.
In Japan, not only the judiciary, but also the administration and the law-making bodies neglect the recommendations issued by the Human Rights Committee (the major matters of concern and recommendations of the 5th Periodic Report Review: October 30, 2008 (CCPR/C/JPN/CO/5). In particular, there is an urgent need for a Committee’s recommendation calling for the lifting the ban on the distribution of documents and door-to-door visits in the Law on Election of Public Office and the total ban on political activities of white-collar state personnel contained in the National Personnel Law since these two bans are contrary to Articles 19 and 25 of the ICCPR.