{"id":12237,"date":"2014-04-02T09:24:02","date_gmt":"2014-04-02T19:24:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=12237"},"modified":"2014-04-12T09:03:26","modified_gmt":"2014-04-12T19:03:26","slug":"my-latest-japan-times-just-be-cause-column-apr-3-2014-knowing-your-rights-can-protect-against-fake-cops-updating-the-nj-spot-id-checkpoints-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=12237","title":{"rendered":"My Japan Times JUST BE CAUSE Col 74, Apr 3, 2014: “Knowing your rights can protect against fake cops”, updating the NJ Spot ID Checkpoints issue"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hi Blog. My latest Japan Times column is out now. Excerpt:
\nISSUES| JUST BE CAUSE<\/strong>
\n\"justbecauseicon.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Knowing your rights can protect against fake cops<\/strong>
\n BY DEBITO ARUDOU<\/strong>
\n SPECIAL TO THE JAPAN TIMES, APR 2, 2014<\/strong>
\nCourtesy http:\/\/www.japantimes.co.jp\/community\/2014\/04\/02\/issues\/rights-can-protect-against-fake-cops\/<\/a>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Long-time readers of The Japan Times will already be aware of some of the information in today\u2019s column. But within is an important update, so press on.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

As you no doubt know (or should know), non-Japanese residents are required to carry ID 24\/7 in the form of wallet-size \u201cgaijin cards,\u201d nowadays known as zairy\u016b k\u0101do (resident cards). (People without those cards \u2014 i.e., tourists here for less than three months \u2014 must instead always carry a passport.) Don\u2019t leave home without yours, for you could face detention and a criminal penalty if a police officer suddenly demands it.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Which they can do at any time \u2014 underscoring the weakened position of non-Japanese under domestic law and social policy. According to the former Foreign Registry Law, any public official empowered by the Ministry of Justice may demand ID from a non-Japanese person, whenever. Inevitably, this encourages racial profiling, as cops with systematic regularity target people who \u201clook foreign\u201d (including naturalized citizens, such as this writer) for public shakedowns that are intimidating, alienating and humiliating…<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Exacerbating this is social policy (see Community pages passim), with the National Police Agency and other ministries expressly portraying non-Japanese as agents of crime<\/a>, terrorism<\/a>, hooliganism and infectious diseases<\/a>. They have also encouraged the general public to pile on, unlawfully demanding that hotels and other public facilities, taxation agencies and non-Japanese employers also carry out gaijin-card checks<\/a>.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Note that this sort of thing cannot be done to Japanese. Even the prospect of creating standardized IDs (let alone being forced to carry one at all times) has caused public outrage (recall the scandal over the Juki Net system<\/a>). No wonder: Citizens are in fact shielded by the Police Execution of Duties Law, which states that police officers can ask personal questions only if there is probable cause \u2014 that is, adequate suspicion that a crime has been or is about to be committed. Although there are cases of Japanese being similarly harassed by police, the attitude of those on the receiving end of such treatment \u2014 at least according to numerous videos on YouTube (search for shokumu shitsumon, or <\/a><\/em>\u8077\u52d9\u8cea\u554f<\/a>)<\/a> \u2014 generally seems to be alarm over capricious invasions of privacy.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Not so for non-Japanese. Last month I received reports that police officers in Roppongi have recently included searching bags and sticking their hands down the pockets of non-Japanese, heightening the invasiveness. (This is the same police branch, remember, that came up with non-Japanese urine checks \u2014 until The Japan Times questioned its legality. See \u201cCops crack down with \u2018I pee\u2019 tests,\u201d July 7, 2009<\/a>.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Moreover, as general awareness has increased that non-Japanese must carry gaijin cards, I have received reports that weirdos posing as police (most recently in Kichijoji, Tokyo)<\/a> are coming up to non-Japanese (particularly women) and demanding their personal information.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

One might think things changed for the better when the Foreign Registry Law was abolished in 2012 \u2014 after all, non-Japanese can finally be registered as residents with their Japanese families<\/a> \u2014 but no: The section that permits spot ID checks was incorporated into the revised Immigration Control Act<\/a> (Article 23).<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Fortunately, so were safeguards against cop masqueraders. So here is a revised version of your legal rights:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n