JAPAN: Abduction and Deprivation of Freedom for the Purpose of Religious De-Conversion (2011)

JAPAN  

Japan Fails to Protect Citizens from Abductions and Confinement for Forced Religious De-Conversion  

"One Cannot State that there is Freedom of Religion in Japan"
HRWF Brussels (31.12.2011) -  Human Rights Without Frontiers International (HRWF Int'l), an independent nongovernmental organization, today released a 62-page report that documents the abduction and confinement of Japanese citizens for the purpose of religious de-conversion, and the failure of Japanese police and judicial authorities to investigate and prosecute those responsible for such cases of domestic violence.

"The failure to provide the victims of such kidnappings with equal protection under the law, and the impunity of those responsible, constitute a serious violation of the Japanese people's constitutionally guaranteed rights and the international human rights standards to which Japan is legally bound," stated Willy Fautre, Director of the Brussels-based NGO Human Rights Without Frontiers Int'l.

Fautre and Aaron Rhodes, an international human rights advocate who helped organize the report, interviewed numerous victims, who were mainly members of the Unification Church and the Jehovah's Witnesses, as well as journalists, lawyers, and experts. They also met with 10 members of the Japanese Diet to discuss the issue.

The kidnapping and often violent forced detention of Japanese who have joined these religious movements, usually by their own families along with "exit counselors," has occurred for decades but has been ignored by police and judicial authorities despite unequivocal evidence of crimes.

"It is completely unacceptable that all known complaints against parents and exit counselors have been declared ineligible," Aaron Rhodes said.

"In the face of such official negligence and impunity, one cannot state that there is freedom of religion in Japan," he said.

Japan: Abduction and Deprivation of Freedom for the Purpose of Religious De-Conversion is available on-line at http://www.hrwf.net (On the homepage in the section "Our Reports").

Link to the full report (62 pages PDF): http://www.hrwf.net/Joom/images/reports/2011/1231%20report%20final.pdf

For interviews:

Willy Fautre: +32 478 202069 - Email: w.fautre@hrwf.net
Aaron Rhodes: +49 170 323 8314 - Email: aaronarhodes@gmail.com

EU AGENCY FOR FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS (FRA): A REALITY CHECK

 

EU AGENCY FOR FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS (FRA):

A REALITY CHECK

Human Rights Without Frontiers Int'l 

 
"EU NEWS"

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The purpose of the present report is to provide a critical assessment of the work of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and to identify some shortfalls in the overall EU system of promotion and protection of EU fundamental rights and values. The work on the report has been guided by the premise that the new fundamental rights dimension of the EU policies, ensuing from the legally binding nature of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights as incorporated in the Lisbon Treaty, makes it necessary for the European Union to develop and consolidate a genuine culture of fundamental rights at the level of both EU institutions and EU Member States broadly and when applying and implementing the Union Law.

The importance of a EU fundamental rights culture has been widely acknowledged but it is still in its nascent stages and risks to remain rudimentary, unless a proper institutional architecture is installed to support its development and consolidation. Notwithstanding the existing mechanisms and legal provisions in place, the whole system remains fragmented and reactive. 

In its resolution of 15 December 2010, the European Parliament calls on the EU institutions and Member States to increase coherence among their various bodies responsible for monitoring and implementation of fundamental rights protection and to reinforce a cross-EU monitoring mechanism, as well as an early warning system, similar to the UN Universal Periodic Review. However, the European Union still lacks a comprehensive internal human rights structure to ensure cross-institutional coordination and to allow each institution to build upon other institutions' reports and institutional expertise acquired in the process of their autonomous processes of conducting compatibility checks and impact assessments of legislative proposals and policies.

On its side, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), which has been in existence since 2007 as a "focused observation and assessment agency on Union policies", falls short of filling the gap of a much-needed early warning mechanism and ex ante examination of breaches or risk of breaches of EU fundamental rights. Most importantly, FRA fails short of fulfilling two important criteria underlying the UN Paris Principles governing the work of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs), i.e. a broad mandate and full-fledged independence. 

Despite these deficiencies, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights still can carve an important role for itself in the overall EU fundamental rights architecture, if properly resourced, mandated and politically supported. In this respect, the objective of this report is to raise critical questions at a period when the Agency is coming to the end of its first five-year Multiannual Framework (MAF) and starts planning for its second five-year cycle of existence. This should be seen as a critical juncture of the institutional learning process of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights. It is therefore an opportune time to assess the Agency's position and role within the EU fundamental rights architecture as well as its added value and ability to mobilise resources and expertise to fulfil its mandate within the context of the prescribed broad-based participatory process of consultations within the EU and its Member States.

Report drafted by Nadja Milanova

Brussels, 7 November 2011

FULL -REPORT (72 pages) PDF

______________________________________ EU AGENCY FOR FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS (FRA): A REALITY CHECK By Dr Nadja Milanova See the full-report (72 pages) at http://www.hrwf.net  (Homepage/ Our Reports/ 2011)  TABLE OF CONTENTS          Executive summary                                                                                                                                                 Chapter I: EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) : Genesis and overview                         Fundamental human rights policy in the EU: New architecture                                              Monitoring of fundamental rights                                                                                                        The genesis of FRA: Inherent asymmetries                                                                                  The creation of FRA Chapter II: EU Agency for Fundamental Rights: Institutional model                                              FRA as a specialized EU Agency                                                                                                   FRA and the Paris Principles                                                                                                          Scope of FRA's mandate                                                                                                                FRA's independence                                                                                                                       FRA and NHRIs in EU Member States  Chapter III: EU Agency for Fundamental Rights: Organisational structure      Overall control of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights                                                   Relations with EU institutions and Member States                                                                The role of civil society in the work of FRA                                                                           Chapter IV: EU fundamental rights culture: An Illusion or a reality?                                  The case of Hungary                       Monitoring of the EU Member States' compliance with fundamental rights               Timeline of Hungary's adoption of new Media Law and reaction to it                       Timeline of Hungary's adoption of new Constitution and reaction to it                       Timeline of Hungary's adoption of new Religion Law and reaction to it       Recommendations                                                                                                           Annexes             List of relevant documents                                                                                                         The Paris Principles relating to the status of national institutions                             Members of FRA's Management Board                                                                              Members of FRA's Scientific Committee                                                                               FRA's National Liaison Officers                                                                                             Editor-in-Chief: Willy Fautre Website: http://www.hrwf.net http://www.willyfautre.org Email: international.secretariat.brussels@hrwf.net