Human rights concerns rise as Japan’s government faces criticism for dismissing religious persecution and faith-breaking based on criminal methods
Tokyo, 6th March 2025 – Published as an article in the Japanese newspaper Sekai Nippo. Republished with permission. Translated from Japanese. Original article.
[Scoop] Ministry of Education Justifies “Abduction and Confinement” by Reframing It as “Surveillance” in District Court Hearing on Request for Dissolution Order Against Family Federation
UN Committee Issues Correction Recommendation
by the editorial department of Sekai Nippo
prepared by Knut Holdhus
The issue of forced deconversion involving confinement and physical restraint, commonly referred to as “abduction and confinement” or “coercive faith-breaking”, has been a grave human rights concern. The UN Human Rights Committee has previously urged the Japanese government to take corrective action.
Despite this, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) has justified such practices by rephrasing “abduction and confinement” as “surveillance” in the legal proceedings of its request for a dissolution order against the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly the Unification Church) at the Tokyo District Court.
However, it has been revealed that multiple testimonies submitted as evidence for the dissolution order contain detailed descriptions of abduction and confinement. The ministry’s stance highlights its singular focus on dissolving the organization without regard for the serious human rights violations suffered by its members.
Reframing “abduction and confinement” as “surveillance”
According to sources, MEXT used the term “surveillance” in its written argument submitted to the Tokyo District Court on 20th September 2024, in response to documents submitted by the Family Federation regarding cases of abduction and coercive faith-breaking. The Family Federation countered this by pointing out that multiple court rulings had already recognized such incidents as “confinement”.
The Family Federation claims that over 4,300 cases of abduction and confinement have occurred over the past 50 years. However, MEXT attempted to diminish the criminal and malicious nature of these acts by using the term “surveillance”, thereby denying the Family Federation’s position as a victim of human rights violations. This move, critics argue, is an excessive and deliberate dismissal of a serious case of religious freedom infringement by the very ministry overseeing religious organizations.
Faith-breaking testimonies submitted as evidence
According to sources, testimonies submitted as evidence in support of the dissolution order include accounts of abduction and confinement, such as:
- A believer who returned home for the New Year was asked by family members to clean a storage shed, only to be locked inside from the outside and forced to leave the religious organization.
- A mother who was a Family Federation member was forcibly taken away and confined in a hotel room under surveillance by multiple people to ensure she renounced her faith.
- Parents of a Family Federation believer studied under an anti-Family Federation Christian pastor for about six months before, with the help of relatives, confining their daughter in a hotel room to force her deconversion.
Criticism from religious freedom advocates
In December 2024, Tomihiro Tanaka (田中富広), President of the Family Federation, strongly criticized MEXT at a gathering organized by the Japanese committee (chaired by Professor Emeritus Shoichi Ito (伊東正一) of Kyushu University) of International Coalition for Religious Freedom (ICRF).
Tanaka accused MEXT of attempting to “cover up the fabricated victimhood” by introducing the term “surveillance” and warned that basing government action solely on the testimonies of former members misleads the public and undermines democracy. He also noted that about 30% of abducted members eventually returned to the religious organization, questioning why their experiences were ignored.
Toru Goto (後藤徹), who was confined for 12 years and 5 months and now serves as the head of the National Association of Victims of Abduction and Forced Deconversion, spoke at a gathering on 1st March 2025. He asked, “Have you ever been locked up? Locking someone up is a crime.”
Goto previously filed a civil lawsuit against the relatives, Christian pastors, and professional “faith-breaking activists” who confined him. In September 2015, Japan’s Supreme Court ruled in his favor, ordering the defendants to pay ¥22 million (approx. $146,000) in damages. During the lawsuit, a manual detailing methods for abduction and coercive faith-breaking was submitted as evidence.
UN’s warning on religious freedom violations
In 2014, the UN Human Rights Committee urged the Japanese government to take effective measures to prevent coercive faith-breaking through abduction and confinement. Article 9, Section 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states, “Everyone has the right to personal liberty and security and shall not be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention.”
By justifying abduction and confinement in its legal arguments for the dissolution of the Family Federation, MEXT is not only violating the religious freedom of affected believers but also potentially encouraging the “faith-breaking business”, which specifically targets religious believers.
Featured image above: Panel exhibition introducing the realities of abduction, confinement, and coercive faith-breaking – 11th January 2025, Suginami Ward, Tokyo. Photo: Reika Kato (加藤玲和)