Buraku Liberation News  May 2000 No.114

Former Land Owner Obstructs House Construction of a BLL Member.

Mr. A, a member of the Iwasaki Branch of the Nara Prefectural Federation of the BLL, bought a piece of land from Mr. B located in Asuka Village, for the purpose of building a house. When he started to prepare the construction in 1993, a rumor spread among the people in the community nearby that several families from a Buraku community would move in and that they would cause trouble.

Prompted by the rumor, Mr. B changed his mind and began to obstruct the construction. As a result, Mr. A was forced to give up his plan.

The BLL Nara held a series of fact-finding sessions over the matter in which Mr. B was reluctant to sincerely explain the truth. At the 6th session, he finally admitted that he was obsessed by a discriminatory consciousness and interfered with the construction.

In response to further interrogation by the BLL Nara, he confessed that at that time he did not want to have the house built on his former land out of fear of being blamed by neighbors.

During the fact-finding session, Mr. B first apologized to Mr. A for what he had done, saying "I troubled you. I will try to raise my awareness of human rights."

In closing the session, the BLL Nara requested that Mr. B submit a detailed report regarding his actions, in addition to his sense of discrimination, and that the Asuka Village Government release the facts and draw up a policy to prevent similar incidents.

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