Buraku Liberation News, November 1998 issue (No.105)
A Critique Based on the Present State of Discrimination Against Buraku People (3)
by Kenzo Tomonaga
Director, BLHRRI
V. "Right to a Fair Trial" (Article 14) is Not Observed.
In relation to Buraku issues, I would like to point out that the right to a fair trial which is provided in Article 14 is not observed.
This problem is illustrated in the Sayama case. Mr. Kazuo Ishikawa, of Buraku origin, was arrested on an another minor charge as a suspect in the kidnap-murder of a high school girl in Sayama City, Saitama Prefecture, in May 1963, when he was 24 years old. He was allegedly forced by the police to falsely confess that he was "guilty". As a result, he was sentenced to death in the first ruling and to life imprisonment in the second and third ruling.
When the Sayama Case lawyers' group filed a plea for a retrial with the Tokyo High Court in 1986, they demanded to disclose some of the evidence held by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office. However, this has not yet been carried out. Lawyers have appealed to release a list of evidence. Although public prosecutors acknowledge the existence of the evidence they are being asked to disclose, they have refused to do so.
The Public Prosecutor's Office explains that they do not want to disclose the evidence due to a concern for privacy. However, there is no grounds for the Prosecutor's Office not to release the evidence to the lawyers who promised not to make it public.
On 4 November 1993 the Human Rights Committee adopted the following comments about the Third Periodic Report regarding this issue(8).
"D. Principal subjects of concern : 13. The Committee is concerned that the guarantees contained in articles 9, 10, and 14 are not fully complied with, in that pre-trial detention takes place not only in cases where the conduct of the investigation requires it; the detention is not promptly and effectively brought under judicial control and is left under the control of the police; most of the time interrogation does not take place in the presence of the detainee's counsel, nor do rules exist to regulate the length of interrogation; and the substitute prison system (Daiyo Kangoku) is not under the control of an authority separate from the police. In addition, the legal representatives of the defendant do not have access to all relevant material in the police record, in order to enable them to prepare the defense."
And the Human Rights Committee adopted the following suggestions and recommendations:
"E. Suggestions and recommendations : 19. With a view to guaranteeing the full application of articles 9, 10, and 14 of the Covenant, the Committee recommends that pre-trial procedures and the operation of the substitute prison system (Daiyo Kangoku) should be made to be compatible with all requirements of the Covenant and, in particular, that all the guarantees relating to the facilities for the preparation of the defense should be observed."
As mentioned above, with respect to the retrial of the Sayama case, in spite of the demand from lawyers representing Mr. Ishikawa, the evidence which the Public Prosecutor's Office possesses has not yet been released.
The Fourth Periodic Report says that "The defendant and defense counsel are thus guaranteed adequate opportunities to access evidence necessary for the preparation of the trial." But the reality is far different from the report.
This point must be made by the Human Rights Committee again. All the evidence should be released immediately in order to guarantee a fair trial.
VI. "The Legal Protection of Privacy" (Article 17) is Not Observed.
In Article 17 of ICCPR, the legal protection of privacy is provided. I would like to point out three problems relating to the Buraku issue.
First of all, background checks by detective agencies are not controlled legally in Japan. Such inquiries lead to Buraku discrimination in marriage and employment.
In March 1985 Osaka Prefecture announced the Prefectural Ordinance to Regulate Personal Background Investigations Conducive to Buraku Discrimination. Neither other local governments nor the national government have enacted similar measures.
In March 1997 a detective agency was given administrative guidance by Osaka Prefectural Government to improve their business ethics. Through an investigation conducted by Osaka Prefecture, it was learned that the agency possessed a Buraku list locating Buraku areas and used it when reporting on inquiries for marriage and employment.
Analyzing this example, it becomes clear that investigations are still being conducted widely for the purpose of identifying whether a person is from a Buraku area or not(9). While there are a lot of investigations by private companies that lead to Buraku discrimination in recruitment, only Kumamoto, Kagawa, Fukuoka and Tokushima Prefectures have ordinances prohibiting such investigations. Under the ordinances, the name of the company shall be made public in case of violation. However, there is no legal system in place at the national level.
A third problem is that there are occasions in which an official document with detailed information about an individual and his/her family (i.e. a copy of the family register or a resident's card) is acquired by strangers This information is used by individuals and companies for direct mailing and background checks for marriage and employment.
In this sense, a system should be established whereby the consent of the individual concerned must be obtained before such information is disclosed. This would be in accordance with the recommendation of the board of directors on the guideline for international distribution of the protection of privacy and individual data which was adopted by OECD in September 1980.
VII. "Any Advocacy that Constitutes Incitement to Discrimination Shall be Prohibited" (Article 20) is Not Observed.
Article 20 of ICCPR stipulates that any propaganda for war and discrimination, among others, shall be prohibited. While there is advocacy related to Buraku discrimination, no law is enacted to prohibit such acts.
To put it concretely, discriminatory incidents have been occurring frequently through a variety of media such as graffiti, anonymous letters, nuisance telephone calls, communications sent by personal computer and even home pages on the Internet. I will briefly explain just a couple of the more recent examples(10).
* In Kuwana City and Suzuka City of Mie Prefecture, incidents of discriminatory graffiti have been occurring often since 1994. For example, on 10 October 1996 in Suzuka City, large discriminatory graffiti written by red spray paint were found on the walls of four houses, such as "Buraku people are not human beings. Let's kill them!", "Buraku people are cockroaches", "Buraku are lunatics," "Die, Eta (extreme filth)," "Haunted Buraku" and so forth.
* In a public toilet at Kyoto station on the Tokai JR Line in Kyoto City, discriminatory graffiti have been found frequently since October 1996. The followings are examples. "I want to buy Eta girls (girls from Buraku areas)," "The rise of the lowly people scattering menial culture devastate culture," " If Shina-jin (Chinese people) land in Senkaku islands (disputed islands over territorial rights), kill Kakyo (Chinese residents) in Japan by sarin," "Long live the Emperor! Kill foreign residents in Japan" and so forth.
* In Osaka City, the same kind of incidents take place often in public toilets at train stations and at schools. For example, on 28 July 1996 at Awaji station on the Hankyu line (located in Higashi Yodogawa Ward) graffiti was discovered which said " O-157 was generated from the blood of Buraku people, maggots residing in the Awaji district. Therefore, kill all the Buraku people by dropping an atomic bomb on the Awaji district." And in November 1996, in the same Ward, on the wall and ground of Awaji Junior High School, some discriminatory words were written in spray paint. "Die, Eta (extreme filth)" was written in addition to derogatory words against Korean people and people with disabilities.
* In Kishiwada City, Osaka Prefecture, an office worker, A, who has lived in the City since March 1993, has been continuously putting discriminatory stickers on his home. When urged by his company, authorities of the City and even groups from the Buraku Liberation movement to stop this, A said "Why can't I call you Eta? You think these stickers are bad for you, but I believe it is right. If you ask me to enlarge the letter E in Eta or to make more colorful stickers, I will comply. But I won't take them down." This matter is not yet resolved. A has not stopped posting the stickers.
* The occurrence of discriminatory incidents via packet networking, personal computer networking and the Internet is increasing. Table 4 contains recent information about such incidents.
One case that stands out is that of a man, living in Hirano Ward, Osaka City, who has established what he calls "the Organization for the Protection of the Yamato Race (major race of Japanese). In May 1997 he opened a web page on the Internet that included a 15,000 word letter which was so malicious that even the eugenic theories of the Nazis would pale in comparison. Some excerpts from this web page are below.
"In comparing the postwar period to the prewar, we see that the number of deformed people and people with a hereditary disease is increasing...If we do not have any organizations to counter this trend, members of the Yamato Race, who posses dominant genes guaranteed by the excellent blood inherited from our ancestors, will be extinguished...
This is because it is unjustifiable for Buraku people to use human rights to argue against discrimination and claim that inequality can be corrected by ignoring heredity, preventive medicine, their attitudes and sex life. The Government of Japan changed all 125,000,000 people of the Japanese race into people possessing recessive genes of deformity and hereditary disease by putting laws in effect which provide advantages only to Buraku people, and take away from us the right to conduct research."
VIII. Conclusion
I have pointed out the problems in the Fourth Periodic Report from the perspective of a critique based on the existing state of Buraku discrimination. I greatly hope those problems will be solved by following the recommendations to be released by the Human Rights Committee.
Finally, the recommendation of the Consultative Council on Regional Improvement Measures in May 1996 on "the Basic Recognition of the Dowa Issue" says:
"Our country (Japan), which hopes for peace in the world, should cooperate with other countries and play an active role as a member of the international community to eliminate all forms of discrimination. This should be our country's vital duty for the twenty-first century, which is being called the century of human rights. In particular, the Buraku problem in Japan is a grave human rights problem, a violation of the fundamental human rights guaranteed in the Constitution. In the 50 years after World War II and after a quarter-century of Dowa measures implemented to deal with the Buraku issue, the situation has improved in some aspects through the efforts of many people.
Unfortunately, the Buraku problem continues to be a serious issue for our country. In this sense, we must think about the real meaning of democracy in Post-war Japan. As for the role our country should play in international society, it is an international responsibility for Japan to make efforts to eradicate human rights violations, including Buraku discrimination, existing in Japan as soon as possible."
I would like to stress that the complete implementation of human rights treaties, including International Covenants, which Japan has ratified, is precisely an "international responsibility."
Note:
(8) For the comments of the Human Rights Committee on the Third Periodic Report by the Government of Japan, see "Geneva 1993 Towareru Nihon no Jinken (Report on the Application and Practice in Japan of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights)," published by Kochi Shobo. It has the document both in English and Japanese (translated by the Japan Federation of Bar Associations in both English and in Japanese).
(9) Osaka Prefectural Government, which enacted the Prefectural Ordinance to Regulate Personal Background Investigations Conducive to Buraku Discrimination in March 1996, summarized the responses to its questionnaire from 144 detective agencies in Osaka. According to the result, 33 companies (approximately 20%) responded that they received inquiries from customers that lead to Buraku discrimination (Asahi newspaper, dated 10 May 1997)
(10) For more information about incidents of Buraku discrimination, refer to the publication by the Central Executive Committee for the National Movement to Demand legislation of the Fundamental Law for Buraku Liberation titled "Discriminatory Incidents Continuously Occurred Throughout Japan" (written in Japanese and published once a year).