By Lawrence Repeta
Introduction
How can Japan move toward gender equality, the elimination of authoritarian police practices and realization of the human rights enshrined in its laws and treaty obligations? Many Japanese human rights lawyers and activists believe that one important path forward lies through international institutions, especially those created under the auspices of the United Nations. In the latest round of an ongoing battle to enforce international norms in Japan, lawyers and activists presented a powerful case before the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva and succeeded in persuading the Committee to deliver stinging criticisms of Japan’s failures to take action to remedy several longstanding human rights problems.
The World’s Most Important Human Rights Treaty and Japan
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (the “Covenant” or “ICCPR”), adopted by UN General Assembly resolution in 1966, is the most comprehensive and widely recognized human rights treaty. More than 160 states have ratified the Covenant. Japan did so in 1979. The Covenant does more than merely proclaim a long list of civil and political human rights. It also imposes obligations on member states to take action to promote observance of those rights through such action as adopting appropriate legislation, insuring that victims of right abuse have access to effective remedies, and training government officials (including judges) in their obligations to enforce the Covenant. The implications of Japan’s access to the Covenant have only gradually become apparent over the past four decades.
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