Report to UNHRC: How Japan has allowed illegal faith-breaking for decades and now uses cases to campaign against minority religion
Tokyo, 27th September 2024 – Originally published in the Japanese newspaper Sekai Nippo and republished with permission. Translated from Japanese. Original Article and BITTER WINTER
“Dissolution order is a ‘destruction of faith’; Japanese government ‘silently permits’ faith-breaking,” states a Family Federation-affiliated NGO at the UN Human Rights Council.
By the Editorial Department of Sekai Nippo
Prepared by Knut Holdhus
At a meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) held in Geneva, Switzerland, on September 25, 2024, Norishige Kondo (近藤徳茂), Director of Legal Affairs at the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) in Japan, a UN NGO affiliated with the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly the Unification Church), claimed that the Japanese government has “turned a blind eye” to the forced faith-breaking of Family Federation members through detention. Kondo called for an “end to discrimination and persecution.”
The case of Toru Goto (後藤徹) was highlighted, a Family Federation member who was abducted, confined, and pressured to renounce his faith. Kondo noted that in 2013, the court ruled that “faith-breaking – the use of physical and psychological violence to coerce someone to abandon their faith – is illegal.” He criticized the Japanese government’s response, stating that despite “repeated international recommendations from UN human rights bodies and experts,” the government has “used legal actions initiated by lawyers representing former members who left the church, to aim at eliminating the Unification Church from Japan.”
Last October, the Japanese government submitted a request to dissolve the Family Federation to the Tokyo District Court, with hearings currently underway. Kondo warned that the Family Federation faces threats such as dissolution as a religious organization, violations of its rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, confiscation of all assets, and the introduction of a state-led new form of “faith destruction.” He called for an end to all forms of discrimination and persecution.
Additionally, French human rights lawyer Patricia Duval submitted a report titled “Japan: A Witch Hunt to Eradicate the Unification Church” to a UN agency, criticizing the Japanese government’s actions leading to the court order request for dissolving the Family Federation.
The report states that the government and the National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales labeled the “activity of soliciting donations to spread the faith and maintain the organization” as “harmful to public welfare” and “antisocial.” This has initiated the dissolution process of the Family Federation.
The report also conveys concerns that the government’s “theory of undue influence” has stripped believers of their “legal capacity,” creating a “tragic situation” for ordinary believers and second-generation members alike.
Duval pointed out that these government actions resemble those of a “totalitarian state” and warned that unless steps are taken to halt these discriminatory and repressive measures by the Japanese authorities, believers will be “forced to abandon their faith.”
According to the Family Federation, forced de-conversions orchestrated by Christian pastors and lawyers have resulted in more than 4,300 victims over decades. Following the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (安倍晋三) two years ago, critical media coverage of the Family Federation has increased, exacerbating discrimination and persecution against believers.
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Featured image: On September 25, 2024, Norishige Kondo (近藤徳茂), Director of the UPF Legal Affairs Department in Japan, reporting at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. Photo: Screenshot from live transmission on the UN website.