Buraku Liberation News, November 1997 issue (N0.99)
1. A Counter Report was Submitted by a Group of NGOs to the UN Committee on the Child, in Response to the Japanese Government's Report.
The Japanese Government submitted on May 30, 1997 an Initial Report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, in accordance with the requirement of article 44 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Although the Convention stipulates that state parties shall indicate factors and difficulties, if any, affecting the degree of fulfillment of the obligations under the Convention, it was pointed out by several concerned Non-Governmental Organizations that the Report did not provide the Committee with sufficient information to give a comprehensive understanding of the implementation of the Convention.
As a result, a group of NGOs coordinated by the Federation for the Protection of Children's Human Rights, and the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism - Japan Committee (IMADR-JC) submitted to the Committee in September 1997 a counter-report entitled '95 Issues to be solved in Japan', explaining the actual situation faced by children in Japan.
We would like to introduce in this issue of Buraku Liberation News a paragraph from the counter report titled 'Discrimination against the Buraku people'. With respect to the Dowa issue (Buraku issue), the Japanese Government's report stated that the Government has been educating students, through all school educational activities, particularly in social studies and moral education, to respect human rights, to neither discriminate nor have prejudice against anyone, and to understand correctly questions of human rights including the dowa issues.
The following is the counter-report.
Discrimination against the Buraku people
(1) Historical background of Buraku discrimination
When the modern feudal system was established in the early 17th century, the social class system was institutionalized in the form of three classes ( warrior, peasant, and townsfolk), as a part of the policies implemented to rule people. At the same time outcaste populations were placed under such classes as Eta (extreme filth) and Hinin (non-human). As a rule, people were not allowed to move between classes.
On the other hand, the outcastes were forced to engage in certain kinds of occupations, such as tanning leather and executing criminals. Those people were obliged to live in restricted communities which were later called (Special) Buraku areas. This is the origin of the "dowa issue", which is described in Paragraph 52 of the Initial Report of Japan.
The government's Dowa Policy Council defines the Dowa issue in its report released in 1965 as "a most serious and important social problem deriving from the fact that a segment of the Japanese people, owing to discrimination based on a class system formed in the process of the historical development of Japanese society, is placed in such an inferior position economically, socially and culturally that their fundamental human rights are grossly violated even in present - day society and that, in particular, their civil rights and liberties, which are ensured to all people as a principle of modern society, are not fully guaranteed in realty."
Thus, Buraku discrimination is similar to the caste system in India, considering the fact that the system based on social class was fixed within the framework of the political objective.
People related to the Buraku liberation movement estimate that there are currently as many as 6,000 Buraku communities with a population of over 3 million living throughout Japan.
Although the government formally declared the abolition of social classes in the late 19th century, they had not taken measures seriously to tackle the issue until the Law on Special Measures for Dowa Projects was enacted in response to the report of the Dowa Policy Council. Thereafter, Buraku discrimination has lessened in terms of living conditions, but still has remained in many realms of social life, including education, employment and marriage.
(2) Reality of Buraku discrimination
There is an infinite number of incidents involving discrimination even in recent years. In 1989, a list locating Buraku areas as well as derogatory messages were transmitted in a commercial computer network.
In October 1991, a high school girl committed suicide after other people opposed that she marry her fiance, just because she was of Buraku origin. There are no laws and ordinances which ban inquiring and /or reporting whether a person lives in a Buraku area, except in four prefectures.
The Ministry of Education alone gathers information of almost 200 cases of discriminatory incidents disclosed in schools every year. The majority of the incidents have involved discriminatory remarks and graffiti : 138 cases and 37 cases respectively in 1994.
The government states in Paragraph 218 of the Initial Report that about 97% of the eligible students entered upper secondary school in 1995. However, 92.4% of the eligible students from Buraku areas entered upper secondary school in the same year, about 5 points below the national average.
When it comes to the dropout ratio from that school, surveys in Osaka Prefecture show that there are two or three times the number of dropout from Buraku areas than that of the national average, which suggests that the actual ratio of Buraku students who go on to upper secondary school might be less than 80%.
While the ratio of students who go on to university is 37.6% at national level in 1995, that of Buraku students is only 24.7%, or two thirds of the national average.
(3) The government's measures to eliminate Buraku discrimination and relieve victims of the discrimination
In spite of the facts mentioned above, no laws have been enacted to prohibit the discrimination as well as to impose sanctions against those who discriminate against Buraku people. In addition, the system for relieving the victims is insufficient.
The government claims in paragraph 51 of the Initial Report that the civil liberties organs of the Ministry of Justice are implementing pertinent measures promptly for remedy when discrimination between individuals is found.
However, only 0.6% of the people who were discriminated against reported to such organs according to a survey, i.e.46.6% of the victims just bear discrimination in silence. In accordance with the enactment of the Law for the Promotion for Measures of Human Rights Protection, the Council for Promoting Human Rights Protection was created in May 1997. The council is required to conclude a policy recommendation for the measures (including legislation) of human rights education and awareness-raising within 2 years, and for the relief measures (including legislation) for the victims of human rights violations within 5 years.
The council should submit an effective recommendation by listening to the opinions of victims of human rights violations as well as taking into consideration recommendations and proposals by international human rights bodies.
(4) Education for eliminating discrimination
Education and enlightenment to eliminate discrimination are insufficient, while the government explains its efforts to educate students to respect human rights in Paragraph 52 of the Initial Report.
According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Education, only 35% out of all the colleges, including private colleges, have lectures related to Dowa education, while only 26% of the junior colleges have such lectures in addition to the figure of only 52% among the national and public universities.
"The guidance for Dowa education in school" released by the Education Ministry in 1994 states that all the schools nationwide are required to have classes for Dowa education in each subject, including moral education, as well as in specially designed activities, based on the necessity, regardless of the existence of Dowa areas nearby the school. In spite of that policy, Dowa education largely depends on whether a school is designated as a Dowa education promotion school or not, and it also depends on the policies of the principals and teachers of schools.
The government should implement concrete measures, including Dowa education, as well as awareness-raising, in line with a National Plan of Action for the UN Decade for Human Rights Education released by the government in July 1997.