Showing posts with label human rights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label human rights. Show all posts
Friday, February 1, 2019
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Fewer Coerced Confessions with Videotaping Interrogations?
Diet passes legislation to revamp Japan’s criminal justice system
From The Japan Times, 5/24/16.
The Diet on Tuesday passed an amendment mandating for the first time the recording of police interrogations as well as changes to the existing wiretap law and the adoption of a plea bargain system, in reforms representing a significant turning point in Japan’s criminal justice system.
The measures are an attempt to revamp the nation’s notoriously opaque judicial process. Under the new requirements, police and prosecutors will be obliged for the first time to videotape certain criminal interrogations in a bid to prevent the authorities from eliciting coerced confessions.
Investigators have been recording interrogations at their own discretion.
Subject to the new requirements, however, are only those interrogations in extremely grave cases, such as murder, arson and kidnapping, that will be tried under the lay judge system, as well as cases specially investigated by prosecutors.
Together, they account for a mere 3 percent of all criminal cases, spurring concerns the revisions will likely have little impact in preventing coerced confessions.
With the introduction of the plea bargain system, the authorities will be allowed to offer those accused of drug trafficking and white-collar crimes, such as bribery and tax evasion, special deals to encourage them to divulge information on accomplices, including ringleaders, in exchange for lighter sentences or dropped charges.
Included in the new laws are penalties that can be applied if a suspect provides false leads and a requirement that such negotiations take place in the presence of the suspect’s lawyer.
The wiretap law, previously limited to cases such as those related to drugs and weapons, has expanded to cover crimes including fraud and theft in an attempt to rein in organized crime.
The revisions were submitted based on recommendations made by the Justice Ministry’s Legislative Council in 2014 in response to the wrongful arrest and indictment of welfare ministry official Atsuko Muraki, who stood accused of fraud.
In the 2009 scandal, prosecutors altered evidence against Muraki and extracted forced confessions from the suspects involved, igniting criticism over the lack of transparency in the criminal justice system. Muraki was eventually acquitted.
The Japan Federation of Bar Associations released a statement Tuesday hailing the videotape mandate as a step forward. But the group cautioned that plea bargaining may result in suspects giving false information, raising the risks for miscarriages of justice, and the expanded wiretap law could infringe on privacy rights.
Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/05/24/national/diet-passes-legislation-revamp-japans-secretive-judicial-system/
Click here for previous VAOJ coverage of this issue.
From The Japan Times, 5/24/16.
The Diet on Tuesday passed an amendment mandating for the first time the recording of police interrogations as well as changes to the existing wiretap law and the adoption of a plea bargain system, in reforms representing a significant turning point in Japan’s criminal justice system.
The measures are an attempt to revamp the nation’s notoriously opaque judicial process. Under the new requirements, police and prosecutors will be obliged for the first time to videotape certain criminal interrogations in a bid to prevent the authorities from eliciting coerced confessions.
Investigators have been recording interrogations at their own discretion.
Subject to the new requirements, however, are only those interrogations in extremely grave cases, such as murder, arson and kidnapping, that will be tried under the lay judge system, as well as cases specially investigated by prosecutors.
Together, they account for a mere 3 percent of all criminal cases, spurring concerns the revisions will likely have little impact in preventing coerced confessions.
With the introduction of the plea bargain system, the authorities will be allowed to offer those accused of drug trafficking and white-collar crimes, such as bribery and tax evasion, special deals to encourage them to divulge information on accomplices, including ringleaders, in exchange for lighter sentences or dropped charges.
Included in the new laws are penalties that can be applied if a suspect provides false leads and a requirement that such negotiations take place in the presence of the suspect’s lawyer.
The wiretap law, previously limited to cases such as those related to drugs and weapons, has expanded to cover crimes including fraud and theft in an attempt to rein in organized crime.
The revisions were submitted based on recommendations made by the Justice Ministry’s Legislative Council in 2014 in response to the wrongful arrest and indictment of welfare ministry official Atsuko Muraki, who stood accused of fraud.
In the 2009 scandal, prosecutors altered evidence against Muraki and extracted forced confessions from the suspects involved, igniting criticism over the lack of transparency in the criminal justice system. Muraki was eventually acquitted.
The Japan Federation of Bar Associations released a statement Tuesday hailing the videotape mandate as a step forward. But the group cautioned that plea bargaining may result in suspects giving false information, raising the risks for miscarriages of justice, and the expanded wiretap law could infringe on privacy rights.
Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/05/24/national/diet-passes-legislation-revamp-japans-secretive-judicial-system/
Click here for previous VAOJ coverage of this issue.
Monday, April 25, 2016
Monster Salvage Ethnography Post About Recent Disability Issues in Japan
Record 453,000 people with disabilities working for firms in Japan
From The Japan Times, 11/27/15.
A record 453,000 people with disabilities were working for companies in Japan as of June 1, up 5.1 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said Friday.
The number of disabled workers hit a record high for the 12th straight year, the ministry said in a report.
The proportion of workers with disabilities in overall private-sector workforces stood at 1.88 percent, up 0.06 percentage point.
Under a law aimed at promoting employment of people who have disabilities, Japanese companies are obliged to employ disabled workers so that they account for at least 2 percent of the firms’ overall workforce.
The proportion of private-sector companies meeting the 2 percent target came to 47.2 percent, up 2.5 points.
An increasing number of companies, especially large firms, have become aware of the importance of hiring people with disabilities, a ministry official said.
The share of disabled workers in the corporate workforce stood at 2.09 percent for companies with 1,000 or more employees and 1.89 percent for firms with 500 to 999 employees.
Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/11/27/national/social-issues/record-453000-people-disabilities-working-firms-japan/
25% of Japan’s disabled have trouble making ends meet
From The Japan Times, 2/16/16.
At least 1 in 4 disabled people in Japan has difficulty making ends meet, with the poverty rate running twice the average of nondisabled individuals, according to a study led by a Keio University professor.
Atsuhiro Yamada’s team studied the results of a 2013 government survey on people’s lives to identify the relative poverty rate for people with disabilities and found that the rate is high here compared with that of other developed nations.
Relative poverty is measured based on household disposable income. The percentage reflects those living in households with an income below 50 percent of the national median level.
The researchers say the high poverty rate reflects the fact that there are fewer job opportunities for disabled people and that they earn lower wages. They also reflect the lower pension benefits available in Japan for such people compared with other advanced countries.
Yamada said the findings underscore the “seriousness” of poverty among disabled people in Japan and called for measures to promote employment for them and their families to help them escape poverty.
The study covered people who said in the government survey they needed help or had to be watched over because of disabilities or loss of physical abilities.
The poverty rate of disabled people in their 20s and 30s stood at 28.8 percent, while the figure came to 26.7 percent for people in their 40s and 27.5 percent for those aged between 50 and 64.
As for people with no disabilities, the comparable figures were 13.8 percent, 13.4 percent and 14.6 percent.
The government has compiled poverty figures for the population as a whole and for children under the age of 18. According to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, the overall rate was 16.1 percent in 2012.
Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/02/16/national/25-japans-disabled-trouble-making-ends-meet/
Badges for ‘invisible disabilities’ catching on
From The Japan Times, 6/2/14.
Patients with hidden physical impediments — internal conditions not immediately recognizable by others — are increasingly wearing badges as they try to increase awareness of the difficulties they face.
“In all my life, I have never once been able to run,” said Nobuyo Shirai, 45, an activist who has a serious heart ailment and is registered as disabled.
Shirai visits a large hospital in Tokyo from her home in Saitama Prefecture once a month, but the one-hour train ride is tough because she is physically weak.
It is a huge ordeal when she cannot get a seat. But it is even more painful when other passengers glare at her for taking a priority seat designated for elderly and disabled passengers, she said.
People with invisible impediments can be those with heart, kidney and liver conditions. Like people with visible physical disabilities or visual and hearing problems, they are eligible for physical disability certificates.
Figures from the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry show there were an estimated 930,000 patients with internal ailments as of 2011. They accounted for 24 percent of all certificate holders, a number surpassed only by people with limb disabilities.
To enhance public awareness, Shirai’s non-profit Heart Plus organization created a “heart plus” symbol in 2003 to signify an internal ailment.
People with invisible impediments used to have no way to indicate their needs, Shirai said. “People who have had ostomies would get yelled at for using the toilets for the disabled,” she said.
The mark is winning public recognition. Five years ago, Kitakyushu City Hall began placing heart plus stickers on priority seats on trains, buses and other public transport and providing badges with the mark to those who wish to wear one.
Eriko Yoshida, an associate professor at University of Nagasaki, surveyed 471 people with internal impediments last year and found that 52 percent of the respondents reported being in need of assistance or support.
Fifty-four percent said they need assistance or support even with such household chores as cooking and cleaning. A further 42 percent cited daily shopping, with a similar number saying they needed help to make hospital visits or commute to work or school.
Even people who said they needed no help may in fact be struggling, Yoshida said.
Author Sarasa Ono thus developed an “invisible impediment badge” to help people with internal ailments discuss their difficulties with others.
Ono, who suffers from an intractable immune-system condition, writes about people who receive insufficient support because of shortcomings in public assistance.
The badge, which costs ¥350, has received 30,000 orders, Ono said, with interest both from patients with chronic diseases, developmental difficulties and mental ailments, and their families.
“People need the courage to talk about their own impediments,” Ono said. “I hope they don’t feel alone, because everyone with a badge is in the same situation.”
Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/06/02/national/badges-invisible-disabilities-catching/
Deaf community hopes 2020 Olympics a ‘game-changer’ for better social inclusion
From The Japan Times, 11/4/15.
Peggy Prosser was sitting in front of a travel agent in Japan when she was abruptly informed that she would not be able to fly back to the United States to visit her family because she is deaf.
When Prosser sat down with him, she had written out her itinerary and given it to him.
Initially he had assumed it was because she couldn’t speak Japanese, but when it became clear that she was deaf, he wrote on a piece of paper that flying was not an option as she would be unable to follow safety instructions.
To Prosser this was nonsense — after all, she had come to Japan by air — and definitely not part of any guidelines for dealing with deaf people. It spoke more to the ignorance of the travel agent than anything else. She finally got her tickets after the agent talked to a supervisor, but the incident left a bad aftertaste.
That was in 1993. But even now, Prosser believes discrimination against the deaf still exists as society is built for people who can speak and hear.
“I do see a lot of things changing for the better and some things for the worse,” said 52-year-old Prosser, who has lived in Japan for over 25 years. “Too often, deaf people are marginalized, forgotten or maybe ignored,” she said.
Prosser went deaf at the age of 5 for an unknown reason. Since then, American Sign Language has given her a new tool to communicate and a new way to interact with the world.
She does not remember how she lost her hearing but recalls the time when she no longer needed to wait for “a big yellow school bus” to go to school just like other kids in the neighborhood.
Living in Japan as a foreigner who is deaf has revealed many challenges. Prosser, who works as a travel agent for the deaf, hopes 2020 will be a game-changer in a society where a lack of understanding of the deaf population leads to audism — or the notion that one is superior based on an ability to hear.
“Access to public programs and services will give deaf people the experience they need to become empowered and give back to society,” Prosser said.
Many deaf people stress the importance of visualizing information as the hearing community often hesitates to communicate in writing, especially in times of emergency. Verbal announcements to tell commuters why a train has been delayed, for example, may not be helpful for the deaf.
Despite positive moves in recent years toward equal opportunities and to encourage people with disabilities to participate more in society, Japan is still seen as lagging behind the United States and European countries.
The U.S., for instance, celebrated the 25th anniversary in July of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which bans discrimination based on disabilities in employment and transportation services, among other areas.
In April a new law takes effect in Japan banning discrimination by government organizations and companies against people with disabilities.
Under the new law, public organizations both at the national and local levels will be legally obliged to give “reasonable accommodations,” or assistance to those in need, so social barriers can be removed, whereas companies are encouraged to follow suit.
Globally, some 1 billion people, or 15 percent of the world’s population, have a disability, and nearly 790 million are of working age, according to the International Labor Organization.
Japan’s disability employment rate stood at 1.82 percent as of June 2014, a record high for Japan but still below the 2 percent target set by the government for private companies, data show.
“Japan is one step behind” in promoting the employment of people with disabilities, said Sadanori Arimura, a professor well-versed in diversity management at Yamaguchi University.
“The government should aim for a higher target.”
People who have knowledge of disability employment point out one “pitfall” in hiring deaf people. They say that employers tend to believe deaf people are only unable to hear but otherwise can work just like anyone else. That misperception has prevented those with disabilities from receiving enough support in the workplace.
Even if they are hired, the chance of promotion to a managerial post is slim, and there is also a hiring gap between men and women, according to experts.
The inclusion of people with disabilities in various aspects of society is still a work in progress.
In a classroom in Tokyo, American instructor Martin Dale-Hench teaches Japanese students how to describe personal characteristics in ASL.
Offered by Japanese ASL Signers Society, a nonprofit organization, the course is designed to help Japanese students — both with or without hearing disabilities — deepen their understanding of different cultures and train volunteers for the Olympics in ASL.
Dale-Hench, 28, said encouraging Japanese students, especially those who can hear, to express their emotions when signing is a difficult part of teaching.
One of his students, Michiko Akimoto, a psychologist in her 30s, developed her interest in ASL after traveling to many countries, including the U.S., New Zealand, China and South Korea.
She believes learning a new sign language will open up more doors, and someday enable her to offer counseling services to foreigners who can’t hear.
“I want to continue studying and serve as a bridge for deaf people as the Tokyo Olympics (are) coming up,” Akimoto, who was born deaf, said through a sign language interpreter.
Foreigners like Prosser see a need for the tourism industry to cater more to the deaf population, as the 2020 games will likely encourage Japan to improve social infrastructure in coming years.
“I want the tourism sector to invest in tour programs for deaf people in the same way they add ramps for wheelchair users and audio guides for blind people,” Prosser said.
Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/11/04/national/social-issues/deaf-community-hopes-2020-olympics-game-changer-better-social-inclusion/
Make new law opportunity to end bias against people with disabilities
From The Yomiuri Shimbun, 4/6/16.
Realizing a livable society in which everyone, whether disabled or not, respects each other’s individuality — we hope the recent enforcement of a new law will provide an opportunity for such awareness and actions to take root among the people.
The Law on the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities came into force this month. The law bans administrative bodies and private businesses from unduly discriminating against disabled people, and it also calls for giving “reasonable consideration” to support people with disabilities.
This is in line with the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Japan signed in 2007 and ratified in 2014. About 160 countries and regions have joined the treaty.
Under the new law, refusing or limiting the provision of services due to a disability or attaching such conditions as requiring disabled people to be accompanied by someone to assist them is considered discriminatory.
“Reasonable consideration” refers to efforts to remove various barriers the disabled face, as long as the burden of doing so is not excessive.
A typical example is installing slopes for wheelchair users. Measures well thought out from the position of people with disabilities, such as providing Braille materials or sign language interpreters for those with visual or hearing impairments, must be expanded as much as possible.
Simply treating those with disabilities exactly the same as the able-bodied does not mean equality in many cases. Without means of moving and communicating, people with disabilities are limited in their activities. A major characteristic of the new law is that it makes it clear that failing to give “reasonable consideration” is also considered discriminatory.
Serious efforts essential
The new law obliges administrative bodies to give “reasonable consideration” to disabled people, and it also requires private businesses to make efforts to do so.
However, the effectiveness of the new law will be limited if not enough is done by private businesses that people with disabilities come into contact with in their daily lives, such as public transportation and commercial facilities. A positive approach should be taken.
There are as many as 7.88 million disabled people in the country. It is certain that this number will rise further in the future in step with the aging of society. Providing services and products for people with disabilities will not only improve the images of corporations but will also make good business sense.
To deal with trouble related to discrimination, tasks remain to be addressed. The new law urges local governments to set up local councils in which relevant entities can prevent or help solve such troubles.
Although establishment of such councils is proceeding at the prefectural level, municipal governments lag behind. To eliminate discrimination, it is vital to take measures for people with disabilities in the areas where they live.
Nearly three years have passed since the new law was enacted, but it is hard to say that its intent has become widely recognized in society.
The promotion of barrier-free environments that give consideration to disabled people will also bring benefits to the elderly and people with children. Also, the Tokyo Paralympic Games is coming up in 2020. The government should strive to make the new law widely known.
Source: http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002854009
Accommodating disabilities, but only within reason
From The Japan Times, 4/16/16.
Due to his recent sex scandal, best-selling author Hirotada Ototake has decided not to run for the Upper House under the banner of the Liberal Democratic Party this year, but he hasn’t officially said he won’t run at all. Earlier this month, while the scandal was still hot, he went ahead with a birthday party that had been scheduled before it broke. The media reported that he was originally going to announce his candidacy at the party, and though he didn’t, he also didn’t clearly say he wouldn’t run.
Ototake doesn’t necessarily need the LDP to win. He’s famous, and if he does decide to run — either independently or for another party — there’s a chance he can still win. The reason he aligned himself with the LDP was that he thought he would be able to accomplish more with the backing of the ruling party.
His main task is to make better lives for people with disabilities like himself. For the LDP it was perfect, since Ototake’s membership automatically would have given them credibility as a party that supported citizens with disabilities in a society where such support is often considered insufficient, which may explain the media’s cautious approach to the Law on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities, which went into effect April 1.
The regulation, enacted three years ago, seems simple enough. As the Yomiuri Shimbun explains, it “bans administrative bodies and private businesses from unduly discriminating against people with disabilities.” The idea is to make a society where those with disabilities can move and communicate with the same freedom a person without disabilities enjoys. But while the law mandates that private and public sectors alike must “make an effort” to remove all barriers that prevent people with disabilities from realizing the law’s aims, it qualifies the mandate with the phrase “reasonable accommodation.” In other words, there may be circumstances that make it difficult for a party to fully accommodate certain disabilities, but the law is too vague to specify those limitations. Facilities and practices should be made “barrier-free,” but if a business claims it can’t afford to make the appropriate changes, is that an “unreasonable” consideration?
In 2013, Ototake went to an upscale Ginza restaurant and was not admitted because the establishment said it could not accommodate his wheelchair. He took to Twitter with his outrage, naming the restaurant in the process. The restaurant’s response may have been cold, but it was on the second floor and the building’s elevator didn’t stop at that floor. Ototake suggested an employee carry him up the stairs, but that might not be an option for some customers. Under the new law, would the restaurant have to renovate the elevator even if it didn’t own the building?
It isn’t clear how the law would address such matters — an important consideration since there are as many ways of discriminating against persons with disabilities as there are disabilities. As Sarasa Ono, a Meiji University researcher and rights advocate, recently pointed out in interviews, the U.S. incorporated its Americans With Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities under any circumstances, into the broader doctrine of constitutionally guaranteed equality, and that equality in this sense means equal opportunity. Ono says that guarantees of equality in Japan refer to something different: In elementary school, for example, all students should have the same books and uniforms and pencils and eat the same lunch, the idea being that no one is treated specially. Equal opportunity here means creating an environment where everyone starts from the same point and has the same chance for improvement.
On the day the law went into effect, the Tokyo Shimbun discussed what sort of changes it should bring about. Pointing out that the central government arrived “late at this issue,” the paper struggles with the meaning of “reasonable accommodation.” The reporter accompanies a 47-year-old woman in a wheelchair on her morning Tokyo commute. When she arrives at Shinjuku Station, Japan Railway staff tell her to wait 30 minutes for an employee who can help her board the train. Once on the platform she has to let several trains pass because the employee has contacted Ikebukuro Station, her destination, and found there is no one available to help her get off right away. It takes her an hour and 20 minutes to arrive at her job, whereas a person without disabilities would normally make the trip in 30 minutes.
JR might say its accommodation was reasonable, but most people would argue it certainly isn’t effective. Fifteen government ministries and agencies are making guidelines for the private sector, and sent notifications to businesses in January asking for feedback, but few have responded, according to the Tokyo Shimbun. There was also resistance to the ADA in the U.S., but over the years people with disabilities successfully sued employers or businesses who they felt did not satisfy its mandates, and as a result a more accommodating environment has been fostered.
The Japanese law simply assumes good faith on the part of the public, including individuals, but it is up to local governments to spread the word. Asahi Shimbun reported last week on so-called help marks, the badges that individuals place on their persons or bags to indicate a disability that may not be apparent. Since these symbols are not unified from one city to another, they aren’t effective in creating a level of social awareness that makes assistance second nature.
But as the JR example illustrates, assistance isn’t the ultimate aim. It’s preferable to have an environment that minimizes the need for assistance, because that is what freedom is about. In the U.S., such an environment developed because people with disabilities used the ADA to assert their rights.
Scandal or no scandal, the Japanese movement needs someone like Ototake, because he’s shown he will fight for his rights. Presumably, he’d fight for others’, too.
Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/04/16/national/media-national/accommodating-disabilities-within-reason/
Concerns raised over support services for disabled earthquake evacuees
From The Japan Times, 4/20/16.
Nearly a week after the first deadly earthquake hit central Kumamoto, concerns are rising that evacuees with disabilities or ailments are not getting the support they need.
“These people should be separated from the healthy ones, because a person with a cane cannot walk quickly enough to pick up rationed rice balls, for example,” said Tatsue Yamazaki, an associate professor of disaster nursing at Tokyo Medical University who inspected the disaster zone in Kumamoto over the weekend.
“Governments should create shelters for people with special needs, including the sick, the disabled and pregnant women,” she said. “The need for such shelters was intensively discussed after the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, but local government officials I talked with in Kumamoto had no idea that such shelters were needed.
“It was only after they were hit by the quake this time that they realized they should have prepared for the worst.”
Yamazaki added that many evacuation centers are packed with people, and municipal governments have turned schools and other buildings into ad-hoc evacuation centers. But because these facilities are not designated as official shelters, they don’t have access to relief goods, she said.
Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/04/20/national/kyushu-quakes-left-9000-structures-damaged-hard-hit-areas-look-building-temporary-housing/
From The Japan Times, 11/27/15.
A record 453,000 people with disabilities were working for companies in Japan as of June 1, up 5.1 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said Friday.
The number of disabled workers hit a record high for the 12th straight year, the ministry said in a report.
The proportion of workers with disabilities in overall private-sector workforces stood at 1.88 percent, up 0.06 percentage point.
Under a law aimed at promoting employment of people who have disabilities, Japanese companies are obliged to employ disabled workers so that they account for at least 2 percent of the firms’ overall workforce.
The proportion of private-sector companies meeting the 2 percent target came to 47.2 percent, up 2.5 points.
An increasing number of companies, especially large firms, have become aware of the importance of hiring people with disabilities, a ministry official said.
The share of disabled workers in the corporate workforce stood at 2.09 percent for companies with 1,000 or more employees and 1.89 percent for firms with 500 to 999 employees.
Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/11/27/national/social-issues/record-453000-people-disabilities-working-firms-japan/
25% of Japan’s disabled have trouble making ends meet
From The Japan Times, 2/16/16.
At least 1 in 4 disabled people in Japan has difficulty making ends meet, with the poverty rate running twice the average of nondisabled individuals, according to a study led by a Keio University professor.
Atsuhiro Yamada’s team studied the results of a 2013 government survey on people’s lives to identify the relative poverty rate for people with disabilities and found that the rate is high here compared with that of other developed nations.
Relative poverty is measured based on household disposable income. The percentage reflects those living in households with an income below 50 percent of the national median level.
The researchers say the high poverty rate reflects the fact that there are fewer job opportunities for disabled people and that they earn lower wages. They also reflect the lower pension benefits available in Japan for such people compared with other advanced countries.
Yamada said the findings underscore the “seriousness” of poverty among disabled people in Japan and called for measures to promote employment for them and their families to help them escape poverty.
The study covered people who said in the government survey they needed help or had to be watched over because of disabilities or loss of physical abilities.
The poverty rate of disabled people in their 20s and 30s stood at 28.8 percent, while the figure came to 26.7 percent for people in their 40s and 27.5 percent for those aged between 50 and 64.
As for people with no disabilities, the comparable figures were 13.8 percent, 13.4 percent and 14.6 percent.
The government has compiled poverty figures for the population as a whole and for children under the age of 18. According to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, the overall rate was 16.1 percent in 2012.
Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/02/16/national/25-japans-disabled-trouble-making-ends-meet/
Badges for ‘invisible disabilities’ catching on
From The Japan Times, 6/2/14.
Patients with hidden physical impediments — internal conditions not immediately recognizable by others — are increasingly wearing badges as they try to increase awareness of the difficulties they face.
“In all my life, I have never once been able to run,” said Nobuyo Shirai, 45, an activist who has a serious heart ailment and is registered as disabled.
Shirai visits a large hospital in Tokyo from her home in Saitama Prefecture once a month, but the one-hour train ride is tough because she is physically weak.
It is a huge ordeal when she cannot get a seat. But it is even more painful when other passengers glare at her for taking a priority seat designated for elderly and disabled passengers, she said.
People with invisible impediments can be those with heart, kidney and liver conditions. Like people with visible physical disabilities or visual and hearing problems, they are eligible for physical disability certificates.
Figures from the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry show there were an estimated 930,000 patients with internal ailments as of 2011. They accounted for 24 percent of all certificate holders, a number surpassed only by people with limb disabilities.
To enhance public awareness, Shirai’s non-profit Heart Plus organization created a “heart plus” symbol in 2003 to signify an internal ailment.
People with invisible impediments used to have no way to indicate their needs, Shirai said. “People who have had ostomies would get yelled at for using the toilets for the disabled,” she said.
The mark is winning public recognition. Five years ago, Kitakyushu City Hall began placing heart plus stickers on priority seats on trains, buses and other public transport and providing badges with the mark to those who wish to wear one.
Eriko Yoshida, an associate professor at University of Nagasaki, surveyed 471 people with internal impediments last year and found that 52 percent of the respondents reported being in need of assistance or support.
Fifty-four percent said they need assistance or support even with such household chores as cooking and cleaning. A further 42 percent cited daily shopping, with a similar number saying they needed help to make hospital visits or commute to work or school.
Even people who said they needed no help may in fact be struggling, Yoshida said.
Author Sarasa Ono thus developed an “invisible impediment badge” to help people with internal ailments discuss their difficulties with others.
Ono, who suffers from an intractable immune-system condition, writes about people who receive insufficient support because of shortcomings in public assistance.
The badge, which costs ¥350, has received 30,000 orders, Ono said, with interest both from patients with chronic diseases, developmental difficulties and mental ailments, and their families.
“People need the courage to talk about their own impediments,” Ono said. “I hope they don’t feel alone, because everyone with a badge is in the same situation.”
Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/06/02/national/badges-invisible-disabilities-catching/
Deaf community hopes 2020 Olympics a ‘game-changer’ for better social inclusion
From The Japan Times, 11/4/15.
Peggy Prosser was sitting in front of a travel agent in Japan when she was abruptly informed that she would not be able to fly back to the United States to visit her family because she is deaf.
When Prosser sat down with him, she had written out her itinerary and given it to him.
Initially he had assumed it was because she couldn’t speak Japanese, but when it became clear that she was deaf, he wrote on a piece of paper that flying was not an option as she would be unable to follow safety instructions.
To Prosser this was nonsense — after all, she had come to Japan by air — and definitely not part of any guidelines for dealing with deaf people. It spoke more to the ignorance of the travel agent than anything else. She finally got her tickets after the agent talked to a supervisor, but the incident left a bad aftertaste.
That was in 1993. But even now, Prosser believes discrimination against the deaf still exists as society is built for people who can speak and hear.
“I do see a lot of things changing for the better and some things for the worse,” said 52-year-old Prosser, who has lived in Japan for over 25 years. “Too often, deaf people are marginalized, forgotten or maybe ignored,” she said.
Prosser went deaf at the age of 5 for an unknown reason. Since then, American Sign Language has given her a new tool to communicate and a new way to interact with the world.
She does not remember how she lost her hearing but recalls the time when she no longer needed to wait for “a big yellow school bus” to go to school just like other kids in the neighborhood.
Living in Japan as a foreigner who is deaf has revealed many challenges. Prosser, who works as a travel agent for the deaf, hopes 2020 will be a game-changer in a society where a lack of understanding of the deaf population leads to audism — or the notion that one is superior based on an ability to hear.
“Access to public programs and services will give deaf people the experience they need to become empowered and give back to society,” Prosser said.
Many deaf people stress the importance of visualizing information as the hearing community often hesitates to communicate in writing, especially in times of emergency. Verbal announcements to tell commuters why a train has been delayed, for example, may not be helpful for the deaf.
Despite positive moves in recent years toward equal opportunities and to encourage people with disabilities to participate more in society, Japan is still seen as lagging behind the United States and European countries.
The U.S., for instance, celebrated the 25th anniversary in July of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which bans discrimination based on disabilities in employment and transportation services, among other areas.
In April a new law takes effect in Japan banning discrimination by government organizations and companies against people with disabilities.
Under the new law, public organizations both at the national and local levels will be legally obliged to give “reasonable accommodations,” or assistance to those in need, so social barriers can be removed, whereas companies are encouraged to follow suit.
Globally, some 1 billion people, or 15 percent of the world’s population, have a disability, and nearly 790 million are of working age, according to the International Labor Organization.
Japan’s disability employment rate stood at 1.82 percent as of June 2014, a record high for Japan but still below the 2 percent target set by the government for private companies, data show.
“Japan is one step behind” in promoting the employment of people with disabilities, said Sadanori Arimura, a professor well-versed in diversity management at Yamaguchi University.
“The government should aim for a higher target.”
People who have knowledge of disability employment point out one “pitfall” in hiring deaf people. They say that employers tend to believe deaf people are only unable to hear but otherwise can work just like anyone else. That misperception has prevented those with disabilities from receiving enough support in the workplace.
Even if they are hired, the chance of promotion to a managerial post is slim, and there is also a hiring gap between men and women, according to experts.
The inclusion of people with disabilities in various aspects of society is still a work in progress.
In a classroom in Tokyo, American instructor Martin Dale-Hench teaches Japanese students how to describe personal characteristics in ASL.
Offered by Japanese ASL Signers Society, a nonprofit organization, the course is designed to help Japanese students — both with or without hearing disabilities — deepen their understanding of different cultures and train volunteers for the Olympics in ASL.
Dale-Hench, 28, said encouraging Japanese students, especially those who can hear, to express their emotions when signing is a difficult part of teaching.
One of his students, Michiko Akimoto, a psychologist in her 30s, developed her interest in ASL after traveling to many countries, including the U.S., New Zealand, China and South Korea.
She believes learning a new sign language will open up more doors, and someday enable her to offer counseling services to foreigners who can’t hear.
“I want to continue studying and serve as a bridge for deaf people as the Tokyo Olympics (are) coming up,” Akimoto, who was born deaf, said through a sign language interpreter.
Foreigners like Prosser see a need for the tourism industry to cater more to the deaf population, as the 2020 games will likely encourage Japan to improve social infrastructure in coming years.
“I want the tourism sector to invest in tour programs for deaf people in the same way they add ramps for wheelchair users and audio guides for blind people,” Prosser said.
Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/11/04/national/social-issues/deaf-community-hopes-2020-olympics-game-changer-better-social-inclusion/
Make new law opportunity to end bias against people with disabilities
From The Yomiuri Shimbun, 4/6/16.
Realizing a livable society in which everyone, whether disabled or not, respects each other’s individuality — we hope the recent enforcement of a new law will provide an opportunity for such awareness and actions to take root among the people.
The Law on the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities came into force this month. The law bans administrative bodies and private businesses from unduly discriminating against disabled people, and it also calls for giving “reasonable consideration” to support people with disabilities.
This is in line with the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Japan signed in 2007 and ratified in 2014. About 160 countries and regions have joined the treaty.
Under the new law, refusing or limiting the provision of services due to a disability or attaching such conditions as requiring disabled people to be accompanied by someone to assist them is considered discriminatory.
“Reasonable consideration” refers to efforts to remove various barriers the disabled face, as long as the burden of doing so is not excessive.
A typical example is installing slopes for wheelchair users. Measures well thought out from the position of people with disabilities, such as providing Braille materials or sign language interpreters for those with visual or hearing impairments, must be expanded as much as possible.
Simply treating those with disabilities exactly the same as the able-bodied does not mean equality in many cases. Without means of moving and communicating, people with disabilities are limited in their activities. A major characteristic of the new law is that it makes it clear that failing to give “reasonable consideration” is also considered discriminatory.
Serious efforts essential
The new law obliges administrative bodies to give “reasonable consideration” to disabled people, and it also requires private businesses to make efforts to do so.
However, the effectiveness of the new law will be limited if not enough is done by private businesses that people with disabilities come into contact with in their daily lives, such as public transportation and commercial facilities. A positive approach should be taken.
There are as many as 7.88 million disabled people in the country. It is certain that this number will rise further in the future in step with the aging of society. Providing services and products for people with disabilities will not only improve the images of corporations but will also make good business sense.
To deal with trouble related to discrimination, tasks remain to be addressed. The new law urges local governments to set up local councils in which relevant entities can prevent or help solve such troubles.
Although establishment of such councils is proceeding at the prefectural level, municipal governments lag behind. To eliminate discrimination, it is vital to take measures for people with disabilities in the areas where they live.
Nearly three years have passed since the new law was enacted, but it is hard to say that its intent has become widely recognized in society.
The promotion of barrier-free environments that give consideration to disabled people will also bring benefits to the elderly and people with children. Also, the Tokyo Paralympic Games is coming up in 2020. The government should strive to make the new law widely known.
Source: http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002854009
Accommodating disabilities, but only within reason
From The Japan Times, 4/16/16.
Due to his recent sex scandal, best-selling author Hirotada Ototake has decided not to run for the Upper House under the banner of the Liberal Democratic Party this year, but he hasn’t officially said he won’t run at all. Earlier this month, while the scandal was still hot, he went ahead with a birthday party that had been scheduled before it broke. The media reported that he was originally going to announce his candidacy at the party, and though he didn’t, he also didn’t clearly say he wouldn’t run.
Ototake doesn’t necessarily need the LDP to win. He’s famous, and if he does decide to run — either independently or for another party — there’s a chance he can still win. The reason he aligned himself with the LDP was that he thought he would be able to accomplish more with the backing of the ruling party.
His main task is to make better lives for people with disabilities like himself. For the LDP it was perfect, since Ototake’s membership automatically would have given them credibility as a party that supported citizens with disabilities in a society where such support is often considered insufficient, which may explain the media’s cautious approach to the Law on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities, which went into effect April 1.
The regulation, enacted three years ago, seems simple enough. As the Yomiuri Shimbun explains, it “bans administrative bodies and private businesses from unduly discriminating against people with disabilities.” The idea is to make a society where those with disabilities can move and communicate with the same freedom a person without disabilities enjoys. But while the law mandates that private and public sectors alike must “make an effort” to remove all barriers that prevent people with disabilities from realizing the law’s aims, it qualifies the mandate with the phrase “reasonable accommodation.” In other words, there may be circumstances that make it difficult for a party to fully accommodate certain disabilities, but the law is too vague to specify those limitations. Facilities and practices should be made “barrier-free,” but if a business claims it can’t afford to make the appropriate changes, is that an “unreasonable” consideration?
In 2013, Ototake went to an upscale Ginza restaurant and was not admitted because the establishment said it could not accommodate his wheelchair. He took to Twitter with his outrage, naming the restaurant in the process. The restaurant’s response may have been cold, but it was on the second floor and the building’s elevator didn’t stop at that floor. Ototake suggested an employee carry him up the stairs, but that might not be an option for some customers. Under the new law, would the restaurant have to renovate the elevator even if it didn’t own the building?
It isn’t clear how the law would address such matters — an important consideration since there are as many ways of discriminating against persons with disabilities as there are disabilities. As Sarasa Ono, a Meiji University researcher and rights advocate, recently pointed out in interviews, the U.S. incorporated its Americans With Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities under any circumstances, into the broader doctrine of constitutionally guaranteed equality, and that equality in this sense means equal opportunity. Ono says that guarantees of equality in Japan refer to something different: In elementary school, for example, all students should have the same books and uniforms and pencils and eat the same lunch, the idea being that no one is treated specially. Equal opportunity here means creating an environment where everyone starts from the same point and has the same chance for improvement.
On the day the law went into effect, the Tokyo Shimbun discussed what sort of changes it should bring about. Pointing out that the central government arrived “late at this issue,” the paper struggles with the meaning of “reasonable accommodation.” The reporter accompanies a 47-year-old woman in a wheelchair on her morning Tokyo commute. When she arrives at Shinjuku Station, Japan Railway staff tell her to wait 30 minutes for an employee who can help her board the train. Once on the platform she has to let several trains pass because the employee has contacted Ikebukuro Station, her destination, and found there is no one available to help her get off right away. It takes her an hour and 20 minutes to arrive at her job, whereas a person without disabilities would normally make the trip in 30 minutes.
JR might say its accommodation was reasonable, but most people would argue it certainly isn’t effective. Fifteen government ministries and agencies are making guidelines for the private sector, and sent notifications to businesses in January asking for feedback, but few have responded, according to the Tokyo Shimbun. There was also resistance to the ADA in the U.S., but over the years people with disabilities successfully sued employers or businesses who they felt did not satisfy its mandates, and as a result a more accommodating environment has been fostered.
The Japanese law simply assumes good faith on the part of the public, including individuals, but it is up to local governments to spread the word. Asahi Shimbun reported last week on so-called help marks, the badges that individuals place on their persons or bags to indicate a disability that may not be apparent. Since these symbols are not unified from one city to another, they aren’t effective in creating a level of social awareness that makes assistance second nature.
But as the JR example illustrates, assistance isn’t the ultimate aim. It’s preferable to have an environment that minimizes the need for assistance, because that is what freedom is about. In the U.S., such an environment developed because people with disabilities used the ADA to assert their rights.
Scandal or no scandal, the Japanese movement needs someone like Ototake, because he’s shown he will fight for his rights. Presumably, he’d fight for others’, too.
Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/04/16/national/media-national/accommodating-disabilities-within-reason/
Concerns raised over support services for disabled earthquake evacuees
From The Japan Times, 4/20/16.
Nearly a week after the first deadly earthquake hit central Kumamoto, concerns are rising that evacuees with disabilities or ailments are not getting the support they need.
“These people should be separated from the healthy ones, because a person with a cane cannot walk quickly enough to pick up rationed rice balls, for example,” said Tatsue Yamazaki, an associate professor of disaster nursing at Tokyo Medical University who inspected the disaster zone in Kumamoto over the weekend.
“Governments should create shelters for people with special needs, including the sick, the disabled and pregnant women,” she said. “The need for such shelters was intensively discussed after the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, but local government officials I talked with in Kumamoto had no idea that such shelters were needed.
“It was only after they were hit by the quake this time that they realized they should have prepared for the worst.”
Yamazaki added that many evacuation centers are packed with people, and municipal governments have turned schools and other buildings into ad-hoc evacuation centers. But because these facilities are not designated as official shelters, they don’t have access to relief goods, she said.
Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/04/20/national/kyushu-quakes-left-9000-structures-damaged-hard-hit-areas-look-building-temporary-housing/
Sunday, December 27, 2015
"Court rules ordinance on standing for national anthem constitutional"
VAOJ has been covering this issue for some time since the film, Against Coercion, came out. The latest installment of this social drama, set in Osaka, features a court decision that says the smooth running of a ceremony is more important than basic human rights. This idea of smoothness is not limited to forced patriotism; recently the Japanese Supreme Court ruled that women cannot use their maiden names on official documents after they get married because having different names in the same family would cause confusion and somehow threaten society. (See the opinion piece, The scourge of conformism besetting Japanese society by Jiro Yamaguchi in The Japan Times, 12/25/15.)
But for now, back to the Osaka court ruling on the forced singing of the national anthem...
From Japan Today, 12/22/15:
The Osaka District Court on Monday ruled that a prefectural ordinance obligating teachers to stand up to sing the national anthem during school ceremonies is constitutional, rejecting a lawsuit filed by a teacher saying the rule violates freedom of thought.
It is the first time that the court has handed down a ruling in connection with the 2011 Osaka prefectural ordinance on standing for “Kimigayo,” which carries lines wishing for the eternal reign of the emperor that are seen by some as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism.
Presiding Judge Hiroyuki Naito said in the ruling that orders from the plaintiff’s superiors to follow the ordinance “indirectly restricted” the constitutional right of freedom of thought and conscience, but they were necessary for “the smooth progress of the ceremonies to an allowable extent.”
He also said the ordinance is in line with Japanese law, including legislation enacted in 1999 that designated the Hinomaru as the national flag and “Kimigayo” as the national anthem.
Yasutaka Okuno, a 58-year-old teacher at a prefectural-run school, filed the lawsuit as he was given an official warning for refusing to follow an order from the school principal to comply with the ordinance regarding a graduation ceremony in March 2012.
Okuno said he refused to comply because “it goes against my Christian faith.”
Okuno was also slapped with a one-month pay cut over his behavior at the graduation ceremony in March 2013. He was assigned to work outside the place where the ceremony was held, but entered the venue and refused to follow the vice principal’s order to leave. He also did not stand up when the anthem was sung.
The court said the pay cut was not illegal because Okuno had “actively” engaged in behavior that “damaged the order and atmosphere of important school events,” such as refusing to exit the venue even though he was told to do so.
In the lawsuit, Okuno sought to invalidate the punishment and requested 2 million yen ($16,500) in compensation from the Osaka prefectural government.
The ordinance was passed in June 2011 when the governor of the western Japan city was Toru Hashimoto, known for his nationalist political views. It obligates teachers and other school staff of public schools in the prefecture to stand up and sing the anthem during school ceremonies.
Source: http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/court-rules-ordinance-on-standing-for-national-anthem-constitutional
Click here for previous VAOJ coverage.
See also The scourge of conformism besetting Japanese society.
Link: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2015/12/25/commentary/japan-commentary/scourge-conformism-besetting-japanese-society/.
But for now, back to the Osaka court ruling on the forced singing of the national anthem...
From Japan Today, 12/22/15:
The Osaka District Court on Monday ruled that a prefectural ordinance obligating teachers to stand up to sing the national anthem during school ceremonies is constitutional, rejecting a lawsuit filed by a teacher saying the rule violates freedom of thought.
It is the first time that the court has handed down a ruling in connection with the 2011 Osaka prefectural ordinance on standing for “Kimigayo,” which carries lines wishing for the eternal reign of the emperor that are seen by some as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism.
Presiding Judge Hiroyuki Naito said in the ruling that orders from the plaintiff’s superiors to follow the ordinance “indirectly restricted” the constitutional right of freedom of thought and conscience, but they were necessary for “the smooth progress of the ceremonies to an allowable extent.”
He also said the ordinance is in line with Japanese law, including legislation enacted in 1999 that designated the Hinomaru as the national flag and “Kimigayo” as the national anthem.
Yasutaka Okuno, a 58-year-old teacher at a prefectural-run school, filed the lawsuit as he was given an official warning for refusing to follow an order from the school principal to comply with the ordinance regarding a graduation ceremony in March 2012.
Okuno said he refused to comply because “it goes against my Christian faith.”
Okuno was also slapped with a one-month pay cut over his behavior at the graduation ceremony in March 2013. He was assigned to work outside the place where the ceremony was held, but entered the venue and refused to follow the vice principal’s order to leave. He also did not stand up when the anthem was sung.
The court said the pay cut was not illegal because Okuno had “actively” engaged in behavior that “damaged the order and atmosphere of important school events,” such as refusing to exit the venue even though he was told to do so.
In the lawsuit, Okuno sought to invalidate the punishment and requested 2 million yen ($16,500) in compensation from the Osaka prefectural government.
The ordinance was passed in June 2011 when the governor of the western Japan city was Toru Hashimoto, known for his nationalist political views. It obligates teachers and other school staff of public schools in the prefecture to stand up and sing the anthem during school ceremonies.
Source: http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/court-rules-ordinance-on-standing-for-national-anthem-constitutional
Click here for previous VAOJ coverage.
See also The scourge of conformism besetting Japanese society.
Link: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2015/12/25/commentary/japan-commentary/scourge-conformism-besetting-japanese-society/.
Monday, November 23, 2015
"Broadcasting watchdog finds TBS violated scandal-hit composer Samuragochi’s rights"
From The Japan Times, 11/18/15. See the VAOJ commentary at the end of the story.
A Tokyo Broadcasting System Television variety show committed a human rights violation when it aired a segment on allegations surrounding composer Mamoru Samuragochi in March 2014, an independent panel promoting ethical broadcasting has ruled.
In a rare harsh decision against a TV network, the Broadcasting Ethics & Program Improvement Organization (BPO) urged TBS to broadcast its decision and prevent similar incidents in the future.
The decision, announced Tuesday, is the toughest penalty the industry watchdog can take against a network. It is the first time in nine years the BPO said a TV program violated human rights.
The segment in question was aired during the program, “Akko ni Omakase,” featuring Akiko Wada, a singer and talk show host known for not mincing words.
Introducing a news conference given by Samuragochi, who apologized for having had another composer ghostwrite his music, the program narrator said “normal conversations took place (between him and the reporters).”
Such narration gave the impression to viewers that he was faking deafness, “without sufficient grounds to assume so,” and damaged his reputation, the BPO said.
“It is a sensitive theme that concerns the human rights of the hearing impaired, and should have been given sufficient consideration from the viewpoint of broadcasting ethics,” the BPO said.
The BPO concluded another variety show aired on the Fuji TV network that also featured the controversy surrounding Samuragochi, which the composer claimed humiliated him, did not violate ethical standards.
TBS released a statement following the BPO decision, saying it will “take the recommendation sincerely.”
“We tried to present the questions raised by (Samuragochi’s) news conference, including views from experts. But we will examine the panel’s decision in detail and will use it in future programming,” TBS said.
Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/11/18/national/media-national/broadcast-ethics-panel-chides-tbs-says-show-violated-scandal-hit-composer-samuragochs-rights/
I am still trying to get my head around this story. On the one hand it definitely illustrates how the idea of defamation is different in Japan. Samuragochi, once dubbed the Beethoven of Japan, was caught red-handed lying. There is no denying this. But it doesn't matter that he did something wrong. Rather his image and spirit were seen to be damaged through televised narration that might have given the audience a false impression. This is a standard interpretation of defamation laws in Japan.
What I am having difficulties with is the idea of how the "human rights of the hearing impaired" were damaged. The problematic narration was "normal conversations took place (between Samuraguchi and reporters)." Does that not also imply that a deaf or hearing impaired person is unable to have normal conversations with hearing people? And if they do they are somehow faking deafness? As there is a wide variation in levels of deafness and communication styles, some (not all) deaf/hearing impaired people can speak and speechread so as to have so-called normal conversations. Is this decision by the BPO not another example of possibly giving impressions "without sufficient grounds to assume so"?
A Tokyo Broadcasting System Television variety show committed a human rights violation when it aired a segment on allegations surrounding composer Mamoru Samuragochi in March 2014, an independent panel promoting ethical broadcasting has ruled.
In a rare harsh decision against a TV network, the Broadcasting Ethics & Program Improvement Organization (BPO) urged TBS to broadcast its decision and prevent similar incidents in the future.
The decision, announced Tuesday, is the toughest penalty the industry watchdog can take against a network. It is the first time in nine years the BPO said a TV program violated human rights.
The segment in question was aired during the program, “Akko ni Omakase,” featuring Akiko Wada, a singer and talk show host known for not mincing words.
Introducing a news conference given by Samuragochi, who apologized for having had another composer ghostwrite his music, the program narrator said “normal conversations took place (between him and the reporters).”
Such narration gave the impression to viewers that he was faking deafness, “without sufficient grounds to assume so,” and damaged his reputation, the BPO said.
“It is a sensitive theme that concerns the human rights of the hearing impaired, and should have been given sufficient consideration from the viewpoint of broadcasting ethics,” the BPO said.
The BPO concluded another variety show aired on the Fuji TV network that also featured the controversy surrounding Samuragochi, which the composer claimed humiliated him, did not violate ethical standards.
TBS released a statement following the BPO decision, saying it will “take the recommendation sincerely.”
“We tried to present the questions raised by (Samuragochi’s) news conference, including views from experts. But we will examine the panel’s decision in detail and will use it in future programming,” TBS said.
Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/11/18/national/media-national/broadcast-ethics-panel-chides-tbs-says-show-violated-scandal-hit-composer-samuragochs-rights/
I am still trying to get my head around this story. On the one hand it definitely illustrates how the idea of defamation is different in Japan. Samuragochi, once dubbed the Beethoven of Japan, was caught red-handed lying. There is no denying this. But it doesn't matter that he did something wrong. Rather his image and spirit were seen to be damaged through televised narration that might have given the audience a false impression. This is a standard interpretation of defamation laws in Japan.
What I am having difficulties with is the idea of how the "human rights of the hearing impaired" were damaged. The problematic narration was "normal conversations took place (between Samuraguchi and reporters)." Does that not also imply that a deaf or hearing impaired person is unable to have normal conversations with hearing people? And if they do they are somehow faking deafness? As there is a wide variation in levels of deafness and communication styles, some (not all) deaf/hearing impaired people can speak and speechread so as to have so-called normal conversations. Is this decision by the BPO not another example of possibly giving impressions "without sufficient grounds to assume so"?
Friday, June 20, 2014
"Interrogation audiovisual recordings set to expand"
From The Japan News, 20 June 2014:
The Supreme Public Prosecutors Office said Wednesday it will expand the test interrogation audiovisual recording program from October.
Currently under the program, public prosecutors record the questioning of criminal suspects in cases with lay judges, as well as suspects with mental disorders.
The recording is conducted as part of prosecutors’ three-year efforts to restore credibility that was undermined by evidence falsification and cover-up scandals at the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office.
Now that the program has proved the recordings’ effectiveness in helping the court determine whether suspects gave confessions to interrogators voluntarily and whether they are credible, the nation’s top prosecutors office plans to record the questioning process for bribery suspects, sexual violence and child abuse victims, and spouses of murder suspects, the office said.
Source: http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001364503
The Supreme Public Prosecutors Office said Wednesday it will expand the test interrogation audiovisual recording program from October.
Currently under the program, public prosecutors record the questioning of criminal suspects in cases with lay judges, as well as suspects with mental disorders.
The recording is conducted as part of prosecutors’ three-year efforts to restore credibility that was undermined by evidence falsification and cover-up scandals at the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office.
Now that the program has proved the recordings’ effectiveness in helping the court determine whether suspects gave confessions to interrogators voluntarily and whether they are credible, the nation’s top prosecutors office plans to record the questioning process for bribery suspects, sexual violence and child abuse victims, and spouses of murder suspects, the office said.
Source: http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001364503
Friday, May 2, 2014
"Law change would tape interrogations"
VAOJ has been covering this issue of visualization for some time now. Here's the latest from The Japan News, 5/2/14:
Proposed changes to the criminal justice system are likely to require investigative authorities to record audio and video of the entire interrogation of suspects, according to Justice Ministry sources.
The proposals advanced by the ministry call for the entire process of interrogation by police and public prosecutors to be recorded in what has been called the “visualization” of questioning in Japan. Every stage of interrogation, from the arrest of a suspect to his or her indictment, would be subject to recording.
The proposed system would also authorize plea bargaining, an agreement between the defendant and prosecution in which the accused agrees to plead guilty in exchange for concessions from prosecutors.
On Wednesday, the ministry submitted its proposals to a sectional meeting of the Legislative Council, an advisory panel to the justice minister. Most of the proposals were approved by the council’s special committee on the establishment of a new criminal justice system, the sources said.
However, the committee is still divided over whether recordings should be limited to criminal cases subject to trial by the lay judge system, or whether the proposed method should be applied to all crimes. This will likely make it difficult for the committee to reach a consensus on the issue, according to observers.
Another change advocated in the proposals is an expansion of the scope of cases in which investigators may be authorized to use wiretaps as part of their investigations.
The special committee is scheduled to draw up a final report as early as this summer, and then submit it to the justice minister in autumn. The ministry will seek to submit bills aimed at translating the proposals into action to next year’s ordinary Diet session, including one designed to revise the Criminal Procedure Code.
Read the whole story: http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001249839
Click here for previous VAOJ coverage.
Chart borrowed from The Japan News, 5/2/14
Proposed changes to the criminal justice system are likely to require investigative authorities to record audio and video of the entire interrogation of suspects, according to Justice Ministry sources.
The proposals advanced by the ministry call for the entire process of interrogation by police and public prosecutors to be recorded in what has been called the “visualization” of questioning in Japan. Every stage of interrogation, from the arrest of a suspect to his or her indictment, would be subject to recording.
The proposed system would also authorize plea bargaining, an agreement between the defendant and prosecution in which the accused agrees to plead guilty in exchange for concessions from prosecutors.
On Wednesday, the ministry submitted its proposals to a sectional meeting of the Legislative Council, an advisory panel to the justice minister. Most of the proposals were approved by the council’s special committee on the establishment of a new criminal justice system, the sources said.
However, the committee is still divided over whether recordings should be limited to criminal cases subject to trial by the lay judge system, or whether the proposed method should be applied to all crimes. This will likely make it difficult for the committee to reach a consensus on the issue, according to observers.
Another change advocated in the proposals is an expansion of the scope of cases in which investigators may be authorized to use wiretaps as part of their investigations.
The special committee is scheduled to draw up a final report as early as this summer, and then submit it to the justice minister in autumn. The ministry will seek to submit bills aimed at translating the proposals into action to next year’s ordinary Diet session, including one designed to revise the Criminal Procedure Code.
Read the whole story: http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001249839
Click here for previous VAOJ coverage.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Osaka Mayor Hashimoto Does It Again... And Again. He's Cutting Funding to Human Rights Museum, Korean Schools, Bunraku, etc....
Those living in Osaka, Japan or anywhere else need to know what the current mayor of Osaka is doing based upon his own preferences and desired images of Japanese culture. This is especially true as his power grows and his local group becomes a national political party.
Hashimoto is cutting funding to Liberty Osaka, the only human rights museum in Japan. Why? Tessa Morris-Suzuki writes in her recent Japan Focus article (9/3/12):
The Osaka city government has until now provided a crucial part of the museum's funding, but the current city government, headed by mayor Hashimoto Tōru, has decided to halt this funding from next year, on the grounds that the museum displays are ‘limited to discrimination and human rights’ and fail to present children with an image of the future full of ‘hopes and dreams’ (Mainichi Shinbun 25 July 2012).
See the whole article: "Out With Human Rights, In With Government-Authored History: The Comfort Women and the Hashimoto Prescription for a ‘New Japan’"
Link: http://japanfocus.org/-Tessa-Morris_Suzuki/3818
Hashimoto has cut funding for Korean schools in Osaka. Why? Among other reasons, according to a recent Japan Times article (9/2/12), he doesn't like Korean schools displaying portraits of Kim Jong Il:
In March 2010, then-Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto announced the prefecture would stop paying subsidies to Korean schools that refuse to meet four criteria, including the removal of portraits of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
The Osaka Prefectural Government stopped paying subsidies to one of the corporation's high schools in the 2010 academic year after determining it did not meet the provisions. It ended payments to most of the operator's elementary and junior high schools in the following school year because Kim's portrait adorned faculty rooms. For the current fiscal year, the prefecture didn't even allocate a budget for the subsidies. Meanwhile, the Osaka Municipal Government cut off subsidies to the schools when Hashimoto became mayor in 2011.
See the whole article: "Osaka faces Korean subsidy suits"
Link: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120902a7.html
Hashimoto is cutting funding for Bunraku puppets (an art form originating in Osaka). Why? According to a recent Mainichi article (7/27/12), he didn't like the performance:
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, who recently declared he would freeze subsidies to an association for Bunraku, a centuries-old form of puppet theater, expressed his dissatisfaction with a Bunraku show he saw on July 26, describing the performance as "unsatisfactory."
"I understood that this is an art that should be preserved as a classic (art form), but the last scene was plain, and lacked something," Hashimoto told reporters after watching "Sonezaki Shinju" (The love suicides at Sonezaki), a classic play based on the work of renowned 17th-18th century dramatist Chikamatsu Monzaemon, at the National Bunraku Theatre in Osaka's Chuo Ward on the evening of July 26.
"The staging was unsatisfactory," the mayor added in his comment on the play, which has not been changed since it was reintroduced to the public in 1955. "Does it really have to follow the old script that precisely?"
See the whole article: "Osaka mayor Hashimoto calls classic Japanese play 'unsatisfactory'"
Link: http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120727p2a00m0na006000c.html
Granted, Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City have terrible budget problems. But these cuts and others seem to be done by the whims and personal views of Hashimoto. These budget cuts, along with his witch-hunt for city employees with tattoos and his insistence of standing for the Japanese flag and national anthem provide insight into this man and the kind of changes he wants to do in the creation of his image/view of Japan.
Journalist Hiroshi Iwaisako provides more information about Hashimoto and perhaps his rationale for budget cuts and other actions in a recent article at Nippon.com (7/24/12); his report/perspective is more serious/formal than other descriptions of Hashimoto that have appeared in other sources.
See the article: "What to Make of Hashimoto Tōru?"
Link: http://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/a01103/
See also: "Hashimoto sets new national party, names it Nihon Ishin no Kai" by Eric Johnston (9/9/12)
Link: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120909a1.html
As for tattoos, Hashimoto might benefit from reading this article: "Top Arizona court rules tattooing is protected speech" (9/7/12)
Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48948732/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/#.UE1RGxhhNFQ
People need to know what Hashimoto is doing along with his so-called rationale. Is this what we want for the future of Japan?
Link to Liberty Osaka Human Rights Museum: http://www.liberty.or.jp/topfile/human-top.htm
Hashimoto is cutting funding to Liberty Osaka, the only human rights museum in Japan. Why? Tessa Morris-Suzuki writes in her recent Japan Focus article (9/3/12):
The Osaka city government has until now provided a crucial part of the museum's funding, but the current city government, headed by mayor Hashimoto Tōru, has decided to halt this funding from next year, on the grounds that the museum displays are ‘limited to discrimination and human rights’ and fail to present children with an image of the future full of ‘hopes and dreams’ (Mainichi Shinbun 25 July 2012).
See the whole article: "Out With Human Rights, In With Government-Authored History: The Comfort Women and the Hashimoto Prescription for a ‘New Japan’"
Link: http://japanfocus.org/-Tessa-Morris_Suzuki/3818
Hashimoto has cut funding for Korean schools in Osaka. Why? Among other reasons, according to a recent Japan Times article (9/2/12), he doesn't like Korean schools displaying portraits of Kim Jong Il:
In March 2010, then-Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto announced the prefecture would stop paying subsidies to Korean schools that refuse to meet four criteria, including the removal of portraits of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
The Osaka Prefectural Government stopped paying subsidies to one of the corporation's high schools in the 2010 academic year after determining it did not meet the provisions. It ended payments to most of the operator's elementary and junior high schools in the following school year because Kim's portrait adorned faculty rooms. For the current fiscal year, the prefecture didn't even allocate a budget for the subsidies. Meanwhile, the Osaka Municipal Government cut off subsidies to the schools when Hashimoto became mayor in 2011.
See the whole article: "Osaka faces Korean subsidy suits"
Link: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120902a7.html
Hashimoto is cutting funding for Bunraku puppets (an art form originating in Osaka). Why? According to a recent Mainichi article (7/27/12), he didn't like the performance:
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, who recently declared he would freeze subsidies to an association for Bunraku, a centuries-old form of puppet theater, expressed his dissatisfaction with a Bunraku show he saw on July 26, describing the performance as "unsatisfactory."
"I understood that this is an art that should be preserved as a classic (art form), but the last scene was plain, and lacked something," Hashimoto told reporters after watching "Sonezaki Shinju" (The love suicides at Sonezaki), a classic play based on the work of renowned 17th-18th century dramatist Chikamatsu Monzaemon, at the National Bunraku Theatre in Osaka's Chuo Ward on the evening of July 26.
"The staging was unsatisfactory," the mayor added in his comment on the play, which has not been changed since it was reintroduced to the public in 1955. "Does it really have to follow the old script that precisely?"
See the whole article: "Osaka mayor Hashimoto calls classic Japanese play 'unsatisfactory'"
Link: http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120727p2a00m0na006000c.html
Granted, Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City have terrible budget problems. But these cuts and others seem to be done by the whims and personal views of Hashimoto. These budget cuts, along with his witch-hunt for city employees with tattoos and his insistence of standing for the Japanese flag and national anthem provide insight into this man and the kind of changes he wants to do in the creation of his image/view of Japan.
Journalist Hiroshi Iwaisako provides more information about Hashimoto and perhaps his rationale for budget cuts and other actions in a recent article at Nippon.com (7/24/12); his report/perspective is more serious/formal than other descriptions of Hashimoto that have appeared in other sources.
See the article: "What to Make of Hashimoto Tōru?"
Link: http://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/a01103/
See also: "Hashimoto sets new national party, names it Nihon Ishin no Kai" by Eric Johnston (9/9/12)
Link: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120909a1.html
As for tattoos, Hashimoto might benefit from reading this article: "Top Arizona court rules tattooing is protected speech" (9/7/12)
Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48948732/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/#.UE1RGxhhNFQ
People need to know what Hashimoto is doing along with his so-called rationale. Is this what we want for the future of Japan?
Link to Liberty Osaka Human Rights Museum: http://www.liberty.or.jp/topfile/human-top.htm
Sunday, April 8, 2012
"Interrogations filmed in 97% of major cases"
For those of us who have been following this story for quite some time, this appears to be good news. From the Daily Yomiuri Online, 4/7/12:
Audio and video recordings of interrogations by prosecutors were carried out in 97 percent of major criminal cases from April 2011 to February 2012, according to the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office.
Of all 69 cases handled by special investigation units at 13 district prosecutors offices nationwide, interrogations were recorded in 67 cases. Of that number, interrogations in 28 cases were filmed in their entirety.
The average length of the recordings was 61 hours, with the longest at 127 hours.
Interrogation recording began a year ago following an evidence tampering scandal involving the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office.
Link: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120406004353.htm
Audio and video recordings of interrogations by prosecutors were carried out in 97 percent of major criminal cases from April 2011 to February 2012, according to the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office.
Of all 69 cases handled by special investigation units at 13 district prosecutors offices nationwide, interrogations were recorded in 67 cases. Of that number, interrogations in 28 cases were filmed in their entirety.
The average length of the recordings was 61 hours, with the longest at 127 hours.
Interrogation recording began a year ago following an evidence tampering scandal involving the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office.
Link: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120406004353.htm
Friday, February 24, 2012
"NPA panel calls for more 'visualization'"
Can't get enough visualization... Here's the latest on this ridiculous situation (click here and here for background information) - story from The Daily Yomiuri Online, 2/24/12:
An expert panel of the National Police Agency proposed in its final report released Thursday that recording of the results of questioning in investigations--a practice called "visualization"--should be implemented in a wider range of cases.
Currently, parts of the investigation process in cases subject to lay judge trials in which defendants have admitted guilt are subject to visualization by audio or video recording, but the panel said this was not sufficient.
The report proposes implementing audio or video recording on a test basis in a wider range of cases in which defendants insist they are not guilty.
Based on the report, the NPA plans to instruct all prefectural police headquarters to test-implement visualization in a wider range of cases starting in April.
The recording of investigative questioning by police started in September 2008.
The measure was taken in cases chosen by police from among serious cases subject to the lay judge system, such as murder, robbery resulting in homicide and dangerous driving resulting in death, in which it might be questioned whether defendants' statements were truly voluntary.
By the end of last year, such visualization had been implemented in a total of 1,587 cases.
Defendants who insisted they were not guilty were excluded from the measure on the grounds that it is not necessary to prove their statements were voluntary.
From now on, visualization will be implemented even in cases of defendants insisting they are not guilty to prove questioning was properly conducted and avoid wrongful convictions.
The scenes that are currently recorded are those of police officers reading an account of what the defendant has already said in earlier questioning and then asking the defendant to confirm it.
Such scenes, about 15 minutes long, are recorded on DVD. (my bolding...)
The panel says that from now on visualization should also be implemented to record suspects' statements just after their arrest and to record changes in the content of suspects' statements over time.
In addition, the report called for visualization to be done in some cases that are not subject to the lay judge system.
Such cases include, for example, ones in which suspects are mentally handicapped and have difficulty communicating with investigators, resulting in a tendency of the suspects to say what they think the investigators want to hear.
Concerning questioning by prosecutors, visualization has been done in cases prosecutors began directly investigating in April last year, whether or not the cases are subject to the lay judge system.
By the end of last year, visualizations were made at all steps of about 40 percent of such cases.
In a case related to the political funds management body Rikuzan-kai, in which former Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa, 69, has been accused of violating the Political Funds Control Law, an audio recording of questioning of his former secretary was replayed in a trial session.
The former secretary underwent voluntary questioning by the special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office and secretly recorded the conversation.
The Tokyo District Court judged from the recording that prosecutors pressured or tried to guide the former secretary toward making statements favorable to their case. And the judges decided not to accept many of the former secretary's statements as evidence.
The incident indicated that visualization can also be effective for ensuring investigations are conducted properly.
The NPA panel was established in February 2010 with lawyers and former investigators as members so that effective visualization could be implemented without obstructing the protection of public safety.
Link: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120223007083.htm
An expert panel of the National Police Agency proposed in its final report released Thursday that recording of the results of questioning in investigations--a practice called "visualization"--should be implemented in a wider range of cases.
Currently, parts of the investigation process in cases subject to lay judge trials in which defendants have admitted guilt are subject to visualization by audio or video recording, but the panel said this was not sufficient.
The report proposes implementing audio or video recording on a test basis in a wider range of cases in which defendants insist they are not guilty.
Based on the report, the NPA plans to instruct all prefectural police headquarters to test-implement visualization in a wider range of cases starting in April.
The recording of investigative questioning by police started in September 2008.
The measure was taken in cases chosen by police from among serious cases subject to the lay judge system, such as murder, robbery resulting in homicide and dangerous driving resulting in death, in which it might be questioned whether defendants' statements were truly voluntary.
By the end of last year, such visualization had been implemented in a total of 1,587 cases.
Defendants who insisted they were not guilty were excluded from the measure on the grounds that it is not necessary to prove their statements were voluntary.
From now on, visualization will be implemented even in cases of defendants insisting they are not guilty to prove questioning was properly conducted and avoid wrongful convictions.
The scenes that are currently recorded are those of police officers reading an account of what the defendant has already said in earlier questioning and then asking the defendant to confirm it.
Such scenes, about 15 minutes long, are recorded on DVD. (my bolding...)
The panel says that from now on visualization should also be implemented to record suspects' statements just after their arrest and to record changes in the content of suspects' statements over time.
In addition, the report called for visualization to be done in some cases that are not subject to the lay judge system.
Such cases include, for example, ones in which suspects are mentally handicapped and have difficulty communicating with investigators, resulting in a tendency of the suspects to say what they think the investigators want to hear.
Concerning questioning by prosecutors, visualization has been done in cases prosecutors began directly investigating in April last year, whether or not the cases are subject to the lay judge system.
By the end of last year, visualizations were made at all steps of about 40 percent of such cases.
In a case related to the political funds management body Rikuzan-kai, in which former Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa, 69, has been accused of violating the Political Funds Control Law, an audio recording of questioning of his former secretary was replayed in a trial session.
The former secretary underwent voluntary questioning by the special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office and secretly recorded the conversation.
The Tokyo District Court judged from the recording that prosecutors pressured or tried to guide the former secretary toward making statements favorable to their case. And the judges decided not to accept many of the former secretary's statements as evidence.
The incident indicated that visualization can also be effective for ensuring investigations are conducted properly.
The NPA panel was established in February 2010 with lawyers and former investigators as members so that effective visualization could be implemented without obstructing the protection of public safety.
Link: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120223007083.htm
Saturday, August 13, 2011
"Impact of 'visualization' in criminal investigations"
Here's another update on the use of "visualization" in criminal investigations from today's Daily Yomiuri Online. Simply ridiculous...
The panel tasked with studying prosecution reform concluded that the visualization of interrogations through audio or video recording in all sorts of criminal investigations should be discussed.
As a result, a "subcommittee on the criminal justice system in a new era" was established in June under the Legislative Council to examine the state of the nation's criminal justice system.
The 26-member expert subcommittee is to discuss the range and types of cases subject to visualized interrogation, with the ultimate aim of preparing legislation on the visualization of interrogations of criminal cases.
The focal point of discussion is how to assess the impact of the visualization of interrogations on criminal investigations.
Police authorities and prosecutors are worried that in the investigation of cases involving organized crime, bribery or economic offenses, which may involve little concrete evidence, it will be more difficult to clarify what has actually happened.
For example, rank-and-file members of an organized crime group involved in a smuggling case, or secretaries of politicians and bribe-giving firms involved in a political corruption case, likely would not confess anything disadvantageous to their bosses in front of cameras.
Lawyer Masaru Wakasa, who once served as chief of the public security division at the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, said, "As those involved in criminal cases won't tell investigators [anything disadvantageous to their seniors] for fear of retaliation or harsh treatment, there will be an increase in such cases whereby the involvement of those in the upper echelons cannot be proved."
In the experimental visualization of interrogations, which the special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office started in April, a problem has arisen in that the prosecutors' interrogation of suspects became lax.
Makoto Miyazaki, a member of the subcommittee and a former president of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, downplayed this concern by saying, "In foreign countries where they adopted the visualization of interrogations, they are able to have suspects confess by improving their techniques of inquiry."
Police authorities and prosecutors have said that to supplement the interrogation functions that would be impaired by the visualization of interrogations, it would be necessary to adopt new methods, including plea bargaining or expanded use of wiretapping.
Hidehiko Sato, a member of the subcommittee and a former director general of the National Police Agency, said: "If criminal cases that cannot be prosecuted increase due to the visualization of interrogations, it would directly lead to deterioration of public security. It is therefore essential to adopt new investigation methods to punish suspects properly and to maintain law and order."
The subcommittee is expected to propose a new framework of criminal justice in two years' time. But it remains an open question whether the panel can reach a unified conclusion, because of wide differences in views among its members.
Link: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110812004226.htm
The panel tasked with studying prosecution reform concluded that the visualization of interrogations through audio or video recording in all sorts of criminal investigations should be discussed.
As a result, a "subcommittee on the criminal justice system in a new era" was established in June under the Legislative Council to examine the state of the nation's criminal justice system.
The 26-member expert subcommittee is to discuss the range and types of cases subject to visualized interrogation, with the ultimate aim of preparing legislation on the visualization of interrogations of criminal cases.
The focal point of discussion is how to assess the impact of the visualization of interrogations on criminal investigations.
Police authorities and prosecutors are worried that in the investigation of cases involving organized crime, bribery or economic offenses, which may involve little concrete evidence, it will be more difficult to clarify what has actually happened.
For example, rank-and-file members of an organized crime group involved in a smuggling case, or secretaries of politicians and bribe-giving firms involved in a political corruption case, likely would not confess anything disadvantageous to their bosses in front of cameras.
Lawyer Masaru Wakasa, who once served as chief of the public security division at the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, said, "As those involved in criminal cases won't tell investigators [anything disadvantageous to their seniors] for fear of retaliation or harsh treatment, there will be an increase in such cases whereby the involvement of those in the upper echelons cannot be proved."
In the experimental visualization of interrogations, which the special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office started in April, a problem has arisen in that the prosecutors' interrogation of suspects became lax.
Makoto Miyazaki, a member of the subcommittee and a former president of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, downplayed this concern by saying, "In foreign countries where they adopted the visualization of interrogations, they are able to have suspects confess by improving their techniques of inquiry."
Police authorities and prosecutors have said that to supplement the interrogation functions that would be impaired by the visualization of interrogations, it would be necessary to adopt new methods, including plea bargaining or expanded use of wiretapping.
Hidehiko Sato, a member of the subcommittee and a former director general of the National Police Agency, said: "If criminal cases that cannot be prosecuted increase due to the visualization of interrogations, it would directly lead to deterioration of public security. It is therefore essential to adopt new investigation methods to punish suspects properly and to maintain law and order."
The subcommittee is expected to propose a new framework of criminal justice in two years' time. But it remains an open question whether the panel can reach a unified conclusion, because of wide differences in views among its members.
Link: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110812004226.htm
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
"More interrogations 'visualized' / Justice minister wants procedure used in all lay judge cases"
Here's an update about the recording of interrogations by the police in Japan from today's Daily Yomiuri Online. Note the interesting definition of "visualization" employed by the Justice Ministry...
The Justice Ministry has announced its policy that the "visualization" of interrogations in criminal investigations through audio or video recording is essential, and should be institutionalized under the responsibility of the ministry.
In addition to the ministry's announcement Monday, Justice Minister Satsuki Eda instructed the prosecutor general to expand the range of cases subject to the practice.
At present, visualized interrogations are only partly used, and only in cases subject to lay judge trials in which the accused admits the facts presented in the indictment.
In most cases, the term "visualization" does not refer to a recording of the interrogation itself. Instead, prosecutors write interrogation reports and then are recorded reading them aloud for 15 to 30 minutes on a DVD.
Eda instructed Prosecutor General Haruo Kasama to expand the use of visualization to cases subject to lay judge trials in which the accused denies the charges, creating such recordings for all cases subject to lay judge trials on an experimental basis.
It is very rare for a justice minister to give direct instructions to a prosecutor general, even though the Public Prosecutors Office Law gives the justice minister authority over the prosecutor general.
The ministry set up an internal study group to discuss institutionalizing visualization in October 2009 under then Justice Minister Keiko Chiba. The group has studied interrogation systems in other countries and the current situation in Japan.
The ministry's announcement Monday, a document titled "Toward Realizing Visualization of Interrogations," is considered its official conclusion on the issue, based on the study group's final report also released Monday.
In the document, the Justice Ministry mentioned that a special committee of the ministry's Legislative Council, an advisory panel to justice minister, had also started discussions about making visualization a standard practice.
It also said, "Considering the importance of the aim of visualization, the Justice Ministry expects to receive a report from the Legislative Council as soon as possible and will carry out visualization as an institution."
Interrogations in the early stages of investigations soon after arrests and the process of compiling interrogation reports will also be subject to visualization under Eda's new instructions.
The ministry is going to expand the scope of visualization even to cases in which the accused denied charges because it intends to carry out appropriate interrogations and avoid wrongful convictions. It also aims to support prosecutors' efforts to prove the voluntariness of confessions.
Expanding the scope of visualization will be started within a month. The ministry plans to compile a report after a year, reviewing results of visualization efforts.
According to the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office, visualization efforts had been conducted for 3,572 cases subject to lay judge trials by May. Of them, in 39 hearings of lay judge trials, visualization DVDs were discussed. In each of those cases, the judges concluded that the accused had admitted the charges on a voluntary basis.
The final report of the study group expressed a negative view toward institutionalizing the recording of interrogation procedures in their entirety, saying, "It is not appropriate to establish a system which imposes videotaping and tape-recoding without exception."
Link to story: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110809006050.htm
The Justice Ministry has announced its policy that the "visualization" of interrogations in criminal investigations through audio or video recording is essential, and should be institutionalized under the responsibility of the ministry.
In addition to the ministry's announcement Monday, Justice Minister Satsuki Eda instructed the prosecutor general to expand the range of cases subject to the practice.
At present, visualized interrogations are only partly used, and only in cases subject to lay judge trials in which the accused admits the facts presented in the indictment.
In most cases, the term "visualization" does not refer to a recording of the interrogation itself. Instead, prosecutors write interrogation reports and then are recorded reading them aloud for 15 to 30 minutes on a DVD.
Eda instructed Prosecutor General Haruo Kasama to expand the use of visualization to cases subject to lay judge trials in which the accused denies the charges, creating such recordings for all cases subject to lay judge trials on an experimental basis.
It is very rare for a justice minister to give direct instructions to a prosecutor general, even though the Public Prosecutors Office Law gives the justice minister authority over the prosecutor general.
The ministry set up an internal study group to discuss institutionalizing visualization in October 2009 under then Justice Minister Keiko Chiba. The group has studied interrogation systems in other countries and the current situation in Japan.
The ministry's announcement Monday, a document titled "Toward Realizing Visualization of Interrogations," is considered its official conclusion on the issue, based on the study group's final report also released Monday.
In the document, the Justice Ministry mentioned that a special committee of the ministry's Legislative Council, an advisory panel to justice minister, had also started discussions about making visualization a standard practice.
It also said, "Considering the importance of the aim of visualization, the Justice Ministry expects to receive a report from the Legislative Council as soon as possible and will carry out visualization as an institution."
Interrogations in the early stages of investigations soon after arrests and the process of compiling interrogation reports will also be subject to visualization under Eda's new instructions.
The ministry is going to expand the scope of visualization even to cases in which the accused denied charges because it intends to carry out appropriate interrogations and avoid wrongful convictions. It also aims to support prosecutors' efforts to prove the voluntariness of confessions.
Expanding the scope of visualization will be started within a month. The ministry plans to compile a report after a year, reviewing results of visualization efforts.
According to the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office, visualization efforts had been conducted for 3,572 cases subject to lay judge trials by May. Of them, in 39 hearings of lay judge trials, visualization DVDs were discussed. In each of those cases, the judges concluded that the accused had admitted the charges on a voluntary basis.
The final report of the study group expressed a negative view toward institutionalizing the recording of interrogation procedures in their entirety, saying, "It is not appropriate to establish a system which imposes videotaping and tape-recoding without exception."
Link to story: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110809006050.htm
Monday, April 11, 2011
"Minister tells prosecutors to record all interrogations on trial basis"
Follow up to the Presumed Guilty thread; article from today's Japan Today:
Justice Minister Satsuki Eda has told Prosecutor General Haruo Kasama to make audio and video recordings of all interrogations by prosecutors of suspects on a trial basis as part of efforts to reform the nation’s prosecution system.
In response to the instructions, Kasama said that prosecution investigative teams will proactively make trial recordings of their interrogations of suspects in some cases to examine how that would affect investigations.
Kasama also said a task force was set up at the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office on Friday to promote the reform of the prosecution system which was damaged last year by an evidence tampering and coverup scandal related to an investigation into abuse of the postal discount system.
The Supreme Prosecutors Office has already decided to make such recordings of some parts of interrogations of suspects by elite investigative teams in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya as well as for cases
subject to citizen judge trials.
Eda’s nine-point instructions also include the establishment of an in-house inspection team within prosecutors’ offices to check on prosecutors and for outside experts to be invited to provide advice.
The instructions were in line with recent proposals by a government advisory panel to the justice minister for expanding the scope of audio and video recordings of interrogations.
While asking the prosecutor general to file a progress report in about a year, Eda also instructed his ministry to begin preparations to consult with the Legislative Council to establish a new criminal justice system.
Justice Minister Satsuki Eda has told Prosecutor General Haruo Kasama to make audio and video recordings of all interrogations by prosecutors of suspects on a trial basis as part of efforts to reform the nation’s prosecution system.
In response to the instructions, Kasama said that prosecution investigative teams will proactively make trial recordings of their interrogations of suspects in some cases to examine how that would affect investigations.
Kasama also said a task force was set up at the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office on Friday to promote the reform of the prosecution system which was damaged last year by an evidence tampering and coverup scandal related to an investigation into abuse of the postal discount system.
The Supreme Prosecutors Office has already decided to make such recordings of some parts of interrogations of suspects by elite investigative teams in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya as well as for cases
subject to citizen judge trials.
Eda’s nine-point instructions also include the establishment of an in-house inspection team within prosecutors’ offices to check on prosecutors and for outside experts to be invited to provide advice.
The instructions were in line with recent proposals by a government advisory panel to the justice minister for expanding the scope of audio and video recordings of interrogations.
While asking the prosecutor general to file a progress report in about a year, Eda also instructed his ministry to begin preparations to consult with the Legislative Council to establish a new criminal justice system.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
"Full audio, videotaping of suspects' questioning called 'unrealistic'"
More from today's Japan Today:
The Justice Ministry thinks it "unrealistic" to require investigators to fully audio- and videotape the questioning of all criminal suspects, ministry officials said in an interim report. The ministry’s study group instead reached a tentative decision that selected criminal cases should be subject to full recording, the officials said.
Justice Minister Keiko Chiba, Senior Vice Minister of Justice Koichi Kato and Parliamentary Secretary of Justice Tetsuji Nakamura were among the study group members.
Chiba told a news conference on Friday that her ministry "will conduct realistic studies" on the matter, and that she will consult with state minister Hiroshi Nakai with the aim of making a final decision soon after June 2011.
Nakai, who supervises the country’s police forces as chairman of the National Commission on Public Safety, has also formed a similar study group with the Justice Ministry on recording suspects’ questioning.
The Justice Ministry’s interim report noted that the number of criminal cases handled by prosecutors across the country totals about 2 million a year and that suspects are questioned at various places, not only at prosecutors’ offices.
If full recording of questioning is required, lawyers and judges would have to watch the tapes for a long time, it said.
In Japan, there have been mounting calls for recording investigators’ questioning of suspects amid an increasing number of wrongful convictions in criminal cases.
Last year, Toshikazu Sugaya, 63, who was found guilty of killing a girl in 1990, was cleared of criminal charges in a retrial after serving more than 17 years in prison.
A parliamentarians group of the governing Democratic Party of Japan and the Japan Federation of Bar Associations call for full recording of questioning.
Read the story and readers comments:
http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/full-audio-videotaping-of-suspects-questioning-called-unrealistic
Click here to see previous related posts about this subject and the documentary, Presumed Guilty, produced by the Japanese Bar Association. If you haven't seen this film, check it out.
The Justice Ministry thinks it "unrealistic" to require investigators to fully audio- and videotape the questioning of all criminal suspects, ministry officials said in an interim report. The ministry’s study group instead reached a tentative decision that selected criminal cases should be subject to full recording, the officials said.
Justice Minister Keiko Chiba, Senior Vice Minister of Justice Koichi Kato and Parliamentary Secretary of Justice Tetsuji Nakamura were among the study group members.
Chiba told a news conference on Friday that her ministry "will conduct realistic studies" on the matter, and that she will consult with state minister Hiroshi Nakai with the aim of making a final decision soon after June 2011.
Nakai, who supervises the country’s police forces as chairman of the National Commission on Public Safety, has also formed a similar study group with the Justice Ministry on recording suspects’ questioning.
The Justice Ministry’s interim report noted that the number of criminal cases handled by prosecutors across the country totals about 2 million a year and that suspects are questioned at various places, not only at prosecutors’ offices.
If full recording of questioning is required, lawyers and judges would have to watch the tapes for a long time, it said.
In Japan, there have been mounting calls for recording investigators’ questioning of suspects amid an increasing number of wrongful convictions in criminal cases.
Last year, Toshikazu Sugaya, 63, who was found guilty of killing a girl in 1990, was cleared of criminal charges in a retrial after serving more than 17 years in prison.
A parliamentarians group of the governing Democratic Party of Japan and the Japan Federation of Bar Associations call for full recording of questioning.
Read the story and readers comments:
http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/full-audio-videotaping-of-suspects-questioning-called-unrealistic
Click here to see previous related posts about this subject and the documentary, Presumed Guilty, produced by the Japanese Bar Association. If you haven't seen this film, check it out.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL IN THAILAND 11-19 DECEMBER 2008
Announcement from H-ASIA:
A Human Rights Film and Arts Festival titled 'Move Media Rights Festival' (MMRF)(www.mmrf-asia.org) focusing on South East Asia, but covering the wider Asian region, will be held from the 11th to the 19th of December, 2008 in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Mae Sot. It is being organized for the first time in Thailand on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
During this year's festival around 30 films will be shown over 8 days, this includes films as well as documentaries. 9 open dialogues sessions with film makers, experts, victims and producers on the themes of the films is also incorporated into the program.
A separate 3-day workshop in English will be held from 16 to 18 December each day"s session lasting from 10am to 3pm. The workshop will conducted by well qualified, experienced and renowned filmmakers and organizers of film festivals. A key resource for the workshop will be Mr. Nick Danziger, the renowned documentary Film Maker and Programme Director of EIUC Summer School on Cinema & Human Rights.
There is a limited amount of workshops scholarships available for talented Thai citizens and other nationals living in Thailand and abroad. Applications are still being accepted.
On 19 December 2008 from 4pm-6pm, The 'Maria Therese Godskesen' memorial human rights defenders lecture on Film and Human Rights will be held to mark the closing ceremony. The lecture will be held at the October memorial hall in Bangkok. The distinguished speakers are:
Mr Mr. Boonthan T. Verawongse, formerly Director, Amnesty International, Thailand
Dr. Mike Hayes, Office of the Human Rights and Social Development (OHRSD), Mahidol University, Thailand
Mr. Nick Danziger, Film Maker & Programme Director of EIUC Summer School on Cinema & Human Rights
Dr. James Gomez, Department of Political Science, Keio University, Japan
Chalida Uabumrungjit from Thai Film Foundation, Thailand
Additionally, there is room for art expositions on human rights and human security issues. MMRF also wishes to honour deserving artists and film makers.
The MMRF is running this human rights film festival in partnership with Amnesty International-Thailand, Office of the Human Rights and Social Development (OHRSD), Mahidol University, South East Asia Regional Cooperation in Human Development (SEARCH), Movies that Matter Foundation from the Netherlands, the Thai Film Foundation and other local partners. The Move Media Project (MMP, web: www.move-media.org) is the core partner of the event.
For further information please contact:
The Festival Director
Move Media Rights Festival
C/O: International Development Service (IDS)
246, Times Square Building, 12 th floor, Unit 1203, Sukhumvit Rd,
Klongtoey, Bangkok 10110, Thailand
Cell: + (668) 4671-9735
Email: info.movemedia@gmail.com
A Human Rights Film and Arts Festival titled 'Move Media Rights Festival' (MMRF)(www.mmrf-asia.org) focusing on South East Asia, but covering the wider Asian region, will be held from the 11th to the 19th of December, 2008 in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Mae Sot. It is being organized for the first time in Thailand on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
During this year's festival around 30 films will be shown over 8 days, this includes films as well as documentaries. 9 open dialogues sessions with film makers, experts, victims and producers on the themes of the films is also incorporated into the program.
A separate 3-day workshop in English will be held from 16 to 18 December each day"s session lasting from 10am to 3pm. The workshop will conducted by well qualified, experienced and renowned filmmakers and organizers of film festivals. A key resource for the workshop will be Mr. Nick Danziger, the renowned documentary Film Maker and Programme Director of EIUC Summer School on Cinema & Human Rights.
There is a limited amount of workshops scholarships available for talented Thai citizens and other nationals living in Thailand and abroad. Applications are still being accepted.
On 19 December 2008 from 4pm-6pm, The 'Maria Therese Godskesen' memorial human rights defenders lecture on Film and Human Rights will be held to mark the closing ceremony. The lecture will be held at the October memorial hall in Bangkok. The distinguished speakers are:
Mr Mr. Boonthan T. Verawongse, formerly Director, Amnesty International, Thailand
Dr. Mike Hayes, Office of the Human Rights and Social Development (OHRSD), Mahidol University, Thailand
Mr. Nick Danziger, Film Maker & Programme Director of EIUC Summer School on Cinema & Human Rights
Dr. James Gomez, Department of Political Science, Keio University, Japan
Chalida Uabumrungjit from Thai Film Foundation, Thailand
Additionally, there is room for art expositions on human rights and human security issues. MMRF also wishes to honour deserving artists and film makers.
The MMRF is running this human rights film festival in partnership with Amnesty International-Thailand, Office of the Human Rights and Social Development (OHRSD), Mahidol University, South East Asia Regional Cooperation in Human Development (SEARCH), Movies that Matter Foundation from the Netherlands, the Thai Film Foundation and other local partners. The Move Media Project (MMP, web: www.move-media.org) is the core partner of the event.
For further information please contact:
The Festival Director
Move Media Rights Festival
C/O: International Development Service (IDS)
246, Times Square Building, 12 th floor, Unit 1203, Sukhumvit Rd,
Klongtoey, Bangkok 10110, Thailand
Cell: + (668) 4671-9735
Email: info.movemedia@gmail.com
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