{"id":12526,"date":"2014-07-21T07:09:28","date_gmt":"2014-07-21T17:09:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=12526"},"modified":"2014-07-22T13:32:22","modified_gmt":"2014-07-22T23:32:22","slug":"jt-japan-needs-to-get-tough-on-hate-speech-u-n-experts-and-columnist-eric-johnston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=12526","title":{"rendered":"JT: Japan needs to get tough on hate speech: U.N. experts and columnist Eric Johnston; why I doubt that will happen"},"content":{"rendered":"

eBooks, Books, and more from ARUDOU, Debito (click on icon):
\n\"Guidebookcover.jpg\"<\/a>\"japaneseonlyebookcovertext\"<\/a>\"Handbook<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\u300c\u30b8\u30e3\u30d1\u30cb\u30fc\u30ba\u30fb\u30aa\u30f3\u30ea\u30fc\u3000\u5c0f\u6a3d\u5165\u6d74\u62d2\u5426\u554f\u984c\u3068\u4eba\u7a2e\u5dee\u5225\u300d\uff08\u660e\u77f3\u66f8\u5e97\uff09\"<\/a>\"sourstrawberriesavatar\"<\/a>\"debitopodcastthumb\"<\/a>\"FodorsJapan2014cover\"<\/a>
\nUPDATES ON TWITTER: arudoudebito
\nDEBITO.ORG PODCASTS on iTunes, subscribe free
\n“LIKE” US on Facebook at http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/debitoorg<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/www.facebook.com\/handbookimmigrants<\/a>
\nhttps:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JapaneseOnlyTheBook<\/a>
\nhttps:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BookInAppropriate<\/a>
\nIf you like what you read and discuss on Debito.org, please consider helping us stop hackers and defray maintenance costs with a little donation via my webhoster:
\n\"Donate<\/a>
\nAll donations go towards website costs only. Thanks for your support!<\/i><\/p>\n

Hello Blog. \u00a0In the wake of last week’s shocking decision that NJ of any status have no automatic right to their paid-in social welfare benefits<\/a>, here’s another push for increased protections for Japan’s minorities that looks unlikely in this current political climate to come to pass, despite both the court rulings and the gaiatsu<\/em> pressure from overseas:<\/p>\n

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n

NATIONAL \/ SOCIAL ISSUES<\/strong>
\n Japan needs to get tough on hate speech: U.N. experts<\/strong>
\n Japan Times\/JIJI\u00a0JUL 16, 2014<\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/www.japantimes.co.jp\/news\/2014\/07\/16\/national\/social-issues\/get-tough-hate-speech-u-n-experts\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Japan came under pressure at a U.N. meeting Tuesday to do more to help stop hate speech that promotes discrimination by race or nationality.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to information we received, there have been more than 360 cases of racist demonstrations and speeches in 2013, mainly in Korean neighborhoods in Tokyo,\u201d Yuval Shany from Israel, one of the experts at the U.N. Human Rights Committee, said at the meeting in Geneva.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Shany asked Japan whether it is considering adopting legislation to address hate and racist speech.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Existing laws in Japan do not allow police to intervene to stop hate speech demonstrations, Shany said at the meeting held to review the civil and political rights situation in Japan.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems almost nothing has been done by the government to react to Japanese-only signs which have been posted in a number of places<\/a>,\u201d Shany said.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Another committee member, Zonke Majodina from South Africa, asked if Japan has \u201cplans to enact a national anti-discrimination law, for direct and indirect discrimination, applying to both public and private sectors, complying with international standards and ensuring equal protection to everyone.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Elsewhere in the meeting, committee members questioned whether human rights are protected in Japan under the country\u2019s capital punishment system, as well as its system designed to provide equal employment opportunities for men and women.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The review is scheduled to continue into Wednesday when it is expected to cover the issue of \u201ccomfort women\u201d who were forced to work in Japan\u2019s wartime military brothels.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the committee\u2019s first review of Japan in six years. The committee is set to announce recommendations for improvement on July 24.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n

NATIONAL | VIEW FROM OSAKA<\/strong>
\n Time for legislation to prevent spread of hate speech<\/strong>
\n BY ERIC JOHNSTON, JUL 19, 2014<\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/www.japantimes.co.jp\/news\/2014\/07\/19\/national\/time-for-legislation-to-prevent-spread-of-hate-speech\/<\/a><\/p>\n

On July 8, the Osaka High Court ruled that, yes, standing in front of a primary school while kids are in class, shouting through a megaphone that they and their parents are not human, and then vandalizing the school\u2019s property, is legal discrimination.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The decision against the anti-Korean group Zaitokukai for its actions at a pro-North Korean school in Kyoto is welcomed by all civilized people and will likely (unless the notoriously conservative Supreme Court hears the case) end one of the more high-profile hate speech cases seen in Kansai or elsewhere in Japan.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

However, the Kyoto incident is just one of many involving what some countries legally define, and ban, as hate speech. Yet Japan, citing freedom of expression, is reluctant to confront the issue.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Given the official silence and unofficial tolerance, it\u2019s hardly surprising that hate speech is on the rise, especially in Kansai:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 In 2011, a Zaitokukai representative visited a Nara museum running a temporary exhibition on Japan\u2019s occupation of Korea. He later showed up in front of the museum and hurled insults at people of \u201cburakumin\u201d (social outcast class) origin, since the museum also has a permanent exhibition on the buraku people. Thankfully, the man was forced to pay \u00a51.5 million \u2014 not for making derogatory remarks against Koreans or buraku people, per se, but for \u201cdefamation of the museum.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 In a particularly shocking case, a 14-year-old girl in Osaka\u2019s traditional Korean district of Tsuruhashi participated in a February 2013 anti-Korean demonstration by shouting through a megaphone that she wanted to kill all of the Koreans in the area.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

When comments by Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto about Japan\u2019s prewar \u201ccomfort women\u201d system being necessary at the time were added to the mix a few months after the Tsuruhashi incident, Osaka found itself with a reputation both inside and outside of Japan as an intolerant city under mob rule, a place where misogynists, bigots and hate-mongers can say whatever they want without fear of social or legal reprisals.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The good news is that, finally, more and more people in Osaka and the Kansai region are fighting back against the haters.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Counter-demonstrations against Zaitokukai in particular are increasing. At the same time, there is a feeling among many here that, as Osaka and Korea have a deep ties, things will work themselves out.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But that\u2019s the problem. What\u2019s needed now is not \u201chistorical perspective,\u201d \u201cunderstanding\u201d or \u201crespect,\u201d but legislation ensuring protection and punishment. This is precisely because perspective, understanding and respect alone will not stop hate speech \u2014 especially that directed at new groups or those who have not traditionally been as ostracized as ethnic minorities.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rest of the article at<\/em><\/strong>
\n http:\/\/www.japantimes.co.jp\/news\/2014\/07\/19\/national\/time-for-legislation-to-prevent-spread-of-hate-speech\/<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n

As Eric noted, there\u00a0is the muscle (such as it is) of Japan’s judiciary recently supporting something like this:<\/p>\n

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n

NATIONAL \/ CRIME & LEGAL<\/strong>
\n Japanese high court upholds ruling against anti-Korean activists\u2019 hate speech<\/strong>
\n KYODO,\u00a0JUL 8, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Osaka High Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court ruling that branded as \u201cdiscriminatory\u201d demonstrations staged near a pro-Pyongyang Korean school by anti-Korean activists who used hate-speech slogans.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A three-judge high court panel turned down an appeal by the Zaitokukai group against the Kyoto District Court decision ordering that it pay about \u00a512 million in damages to the school operator, Kyoto Chosen Gakuen.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The order also banned the group from staging demonstrations near the school in Minami Ward, Kyoto.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Presiding Judge Hiroshi Mori said in the high court ruling that Zaitokukai members staged the demonstrations near the school with the intention of spreading anti-Korean sentiment among Japanese people.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Mori said Zaitokukai members\u2019 activities were not intended to serve the public interest and that the group\u2019s actions seriously damaged the school\u2019s provision of ethnic education.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The ruling found that eight Zaitokukai activists staged anti-Korean demonstrations near the school three times between 2009 and 2010, using loudspeakers to denounce those inside.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

They yelled slogans, accusing the students of being \u201cchildren of North Korean agents\u201d and demanding that all ethnic Koreans be kicked out of Japan.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The activists posted footage of their activities on the Internet.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In October 2013, the Kyoto District Court accepted a lawsuit by the school operator, ordering the nationalist group to pay damages and noting that Zaitokukai\u2019s activities run counter to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which came into force in 1969. Japan ratified the convention in 1995.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

During the high court hearings, Zaitokukai argued that their members exercised their rights to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression, and argued that the damages were excessive.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rest of the article at http:\/\/www.japantimes.co.jp\/news\/2014\/07\/08\/national\/crime-legal\/japanese-high-court-upholds-ruling-anti-korean-activists-hate-speech\/
\n<\/a>
\n\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n

For the record, here’s how people deal with it in other countries, such as, oh, the European Parliament\u00a0and France:<\/p>\n

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n

WORLD \/ SOCIAL ISSUES<\/strong>
\n Polish MEP\u2019s racial slur sparks anger<\/strong>
\n AFP-JIJI\u00a0JUL 17, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

STRASBOURG, FRANCE \u2013 A far-right Polish MEP outraged lawmakers gathered in the European Parliament on Wednesday by comparing the continent\u2019s unemployed youth to \u201cniggers\u201d in the U.S. South.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Janusz Korwin-Mikke, the outspoken leader of the royalist and libertarian Congress of the New Right party, delivered the remark during a speech to deputies decrying the existence of minimum wage laws.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Comparing job-seeking youth to black laborers in the American South during the 1960s, Korwin-Mikke said: \u201cFour millions humans lost jobs. Well, it was four million niggers. But now we have 20 millions Europeans who are the Negroes of Europe.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, they are treated like Negroes!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe must destroy the minimum wage and we must destroy the power of trade unions,\u201d the 72-year-old added, before being shouted down in the parliament session.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Socialist coalition immediately called on Korwen-Mikke to apologize or resign over what it called the \u201cworst insult of racist discrimination and humiliation.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Mr. Korwin-Mikke has preached did not only offend those that have a different skin color, but everyone who is inspired by the European values of dignity and equality,\u201d said Italian Socialist Cecile Kyenge, who is of Congolese origin.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rest at http:\/\/www.japantimes.co.jp\/news\/2014\/07\/17\/world\/social-issues-world\/polish-meps-racial-slur-remark-sparks-anger\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n

Front National politician sentenced to jail for ape slur<\/strong>
\n Anne-Sophie Leclere handed nine-month prison term for comparing French justice minister to chimpanzee<\/strong>
\n Agence France-Presse in Cayenne<\/strong>
\n The Guardian, Wednesday 16 July 2014 13.20 EDT<\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2014\/jul\/16\/french-national-front-politician-sentenced-to-jail-monkey-slur-christiane-taubira<\/a><\/p>\n

A former local election candidate for the far-right Front National (FN) in France has been sentenced to nine months in prison for comparing the country’s justice minister, who is black, to an ape.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Anne-Sophie Leclere provoked a storm last year when she compared Christiane Taubira to an ape on French television and posted a photomontage on Facebook that showed the justice minister, who is from French Guiana, alongside a baby chimpanzee. The caption under the baby ape said “At 18 months”, and the one below Taubira’s photograph read “Now”.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Leclere was an FN candidate in Rethel, in the eastern Ardennes region, for the 2014 local elections, but the FN soon dropped her and went on to do well in the March polls.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

On Tuesday, a court in Cayenne, French Guiana’s capital, sentenced her to nine months in jail, banned her from standing for election for five years, and imposed a \u20ac50,000 (\u00a339,500) fine. French Guiana is an overseas d\u00e9partement of France and is inside the European Union. It also handed the FN a \u20ac30,000 fine, putting an end to a case brought by French Guiana’s Walwari political party, founded by Taubira.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The court went well beyond the demands of prosecutors, who had asked for a four-month jail sentence and a \u20ac5,000 fine.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Leclere, who was not present in the court, said that she would appeal. The FN said it would also appeal, denouncing the sentences as “appalling” and criticising the trial as a “trap”, as the party was unable to find a lawyer in Cayenne to defend it.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In a television appearance last year, Leclere said she would prefer to see Taubira “in a tree swinging from the branches rather than in government”.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

“She is wild,” Leclere said, adding: “I have black friends and it doesn’t mean I call them monkeys.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Leclere has since defended her comments, saying that while clumsy, they were not racist. She said the photo montage was a joke, and added: “The photo was posted on my Facebook page and I took it off a few days later. I was not the creator of this photograph.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Taubira has been on the receiving end of several racial slurs over the past year. Not long after Leclere’s comments, the far-right weekly newspaper Minute published a cover featuring a picture of Taubira and headlines that read: “Crafty as a monkey” and “Taubira gets her banana back”.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In French, getting your banana back is roughly the equivalent of recovering the spring in your step.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Joel Pied, of Walwari, said Tuesday’s court decision was “historic and beneficial”. He said: “A prominent institution of the republic recognises that the Front National is punishable by law and that it’s a racist party. We hope this decision will mark a milestone.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n

Thanks for the reference to our work, United Nations. \u00a0So there is precedent, example, template, and international embarrassment. \u00a0Will this result in a law in Japan against hate speech (ken’o hatsugen<\/em>)? \u00a0I say again: not in the foreseeable future, sadly. \u00a0As noted on Debito.org\u00a0many times, we have had all four of these pressures\u00a0in Japan for decades now (not to mention an international treaty signed in specific), yet we still can’t get a law against racial discrimination (jinshu sabetsu<\/em>) in Japan. \u00a0Dr. ARUDOU, Debito<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JIJI: Japan came under pressure at a U.N. meeting Tuesday to do more to help stop hate speech that promotes discrimination by race or nationality. \u201cAccording to information we received, there have been more than 360 cases of racist demonstrations and speeches in 2013, mainly in Korean neighborhoods in Tokyo,\u201d Yuval Shany from Israel, one of the experts at the U.N. Human Rights Committee, said at the meeting in Geneva. Shany asked Japan whether it is considering adopting legislation to address hate and racist speech. Existing laws in Japan do not allow police to intervene to stop hate speech demonstrations, Shany said at the meeting held to review the civil and political rights situation in Japan. \u201cIt seems almost nothing has been done by the government to react to Japanese-only signs which have been posted in a number of places,\u201d Shany said.<\/p>\n

Kyodo: The Osaka High Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court ruling that branded as \u201cdiscriminatory\u201d demonstrations staged near a pro-Pyongyang Korean school by anti-Korean activists who used hate-speech slogans. A three-judge high court panel turned down an appeal by the Zaitokukai group against the Kyoto District Court decision ordering that it pay about \u00a512 million in damages to the school operator, Kyoto Chosen Gakuen. The order also banned the group from staging demonstrations near the school in Minami Ward, Kyoto.<\/p>\n

Johnston: The good news is that, finally, more and more people in Osaka and the Kansai region are fighting back against the haters. Counter-demonstrations against Zaitokukai in particular are increasing. At the same time, there is a feeling among many here that, as Osaka and Korea have a deep ties, things will work themselves out. But that\u2019s the problem. What\u2019s needed now is not \u201chistorical perspective,\u201d \u201cunderstanding\u201d or \u201crespect,\u201d but legislation ensuring protection and punishment. This is precisely because perspective, understanding and respect alone will not stop hate speech \u2014 especially that directed at new groups or those who have not traditionally been as ostracized as ethnic minorities.<\/p>\n

AFP: A far-right Polish MEP outraged lawmakers gathered in the European Parliament on Wednesday by comparing the continent\u2019s unemployed youth to \u201cniggers\u201d in the U.S. South. […] Comparing job-seeking youth to black laborers in the American South during the 1960s, Korwin-Mikke said: \u201cFour millions humans lost jobs. Well, it was four million niggers. But now we have 20 millions Europeans who are the Negroes of Europe.<\/p>\n

Grauniad: A former local election candidate for the far-right Front National (FN) in France has been sentenced to nine months in prison for comparing the country’s justice minister, who is black, to an ape. […] On Tuesday, a court in Cayenne, French Guiana’s capital, sentenced her to nine months in jail, banned her from standing for election for five years, and imposed a \u20ac50,000 (\u00a339,500) fine. French Guiana is an overseas d\u00e9partement of France and is inside the European Union. It also handed the FN a \u20ac30,000 fine, putting an end to a case brought by French Guiana’s Walwari political party, founded by Taubira.<\/p>\n

COMMENT: So there is precedent, example, template, and international embarrassment. Will this result in a law in Japan against hate speech (ken’o hatsugen)? I say again: not in the foreseeable future, sadly. As noted on Debito.org many times, we have had all four of these pressures in Japan for decades now (not to mention an international treaty signed in specific), yet we still can’t get a law against racial discrimination (jinshu sabetsu) in Japan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,36,34,50,35,52,5,4,15,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anti-discrimination-templates","category-bad-social-science","category-exclusionism","category-gaiatsu","category-good-news","category-hate-speech","category-human-rights","category-japanese-government","category-lawsuits","category-united-nations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12526\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}