The Paradox of Japan’s Human Rights  

Oleh:

Jones, Colin P.A.

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah internasional
Dalam koleksi: Far Eastern Economic Review vol. 172 no. 10 (Dec. 2009), page 54.
Topik: Japan; Human Rights; Discrimination; Criminal Trials

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Perpustakaan Pusat (Semanggi) Nomor Panggil: FF21.22 Non-tandon: 1 (dapat dipinjam: 0) Tandon: tidak ada

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Japan's government puts great stress on protection of human rights in its public awareness campaigns. And with a vibrant democracy and independent judiciary, Japan would seem to be well placed to score well internationally for civil liberties. So it must be puzzling for Japanese leaders when they are subject to repeated, sometimes scathing criticism for the country's poor human-rights record. The problems blotting Japan's copy book are increasingly well-known internationally: The country is a haven for parental-child abduction, it has a poor record in dealing with discrimination against minority groups and the criminal justice system makes defense lawyers cringe. Many of the issues are not new—one member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee has cited Japan's repeated failure to act on its past recommendations as proof of "a dialogue with the deaf." In particular, Japan's criminal trials produce a small but steady stream of horror stories. Prolonged detentions and harsh questioning without access to counsel are common after arrest, sometimes even before if the police rely on "voluntary" cooperation from suspects. Police and prosecutors can detain and question a suspect for up to 23 days before making an indictment decision. Some defense lawyers call this system "hostage-taking criminal justice," and decry it as tool for coerced confessions, false convictions and human-rights abuses. Japanese criminal trials are famous for having a conviction rate of more than 99%, though to be fair this includes many cases which would be resolved without a full trial (Japan does not have plea bargaining).

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