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JAPAN: PM to visit Yasakuni war dead shrine

August 12, 2001

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION <br>
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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM <br>
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10 August 2001 <br>
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UA-29-2001 - PM to visit Yasakuni war dead shrine <br>
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JAPAN: Glorification of war criminals and past imperialism <br>
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The Japanese Prime Minister, Koizumi Junichiro, has vowed to visit to the Yasakuni Shrine - which is dedicated to Japan's war dead, including convicted war criminals - this Wednesday, August 15, which is the anniversary of Japan's surrender in the Second World War. This comes amidst the furore created by the decision of Mr. Koizumi to back the controversial new history text-book that glosses over the wartime atrocities committed by the Japanese during the 1910-1945 Korean occupation, the 1937 Nanjing massacre in China and crimes such as the use of 100,000 'comfort women' as forced sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II. <br>
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Following is a letter to Mr. Koizumi from Bishop Goro Matsuura (head of the Japan Catholic Council for Justice and Peace) and the leaders of 13 other Christian churches/associations in Japan. The letter is entitled: \&quot;WE REQUEST THAT YOU CALL OFF YOUR PLANNED VISIT TO YASUKUNI SHRINE ON AUGUST 15,\&quot; and follows a previous \&quot;Declaration of Opposition to the Visit to Yasukuni Shrine,\&quot; issued by the Bishop on 29 June. <br>
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SUGGESTED ACTION <br>
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Please read the ecumenical letter below. We are requesting you to send your own protest letter to the Japanese Prime Minister to urge him to abandon his planned war shrine visit, as such a visit - along with the introduction of history-distorting textbooks - would send a clear message that his government is ready to abandon 50 years of work towards reconciliation with other Asian nations. You can do this by going to the following website: <br>
http://www.iijnet.or.jp/cao/kantei/foreign/comment.html <br>
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Alternatively, you may take up our previous suggestion to consider organising some kind of action on August 15 at your Japanese embassy to help the Japanese government remember the history they are trying to deny; or write to Mr. Koizumi directly: <br>
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Prime Min. Mr. Koizumi Junichiro, <br>
1-6-1 Nagata-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, JAPAN,100-8914 <br>
TEL: +813-3581-2361 <br>
FAX: +813-3581-3883 <br>
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August 10, 2001 <br>
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Mr. Junichiro Koizumi <br>
Prime Minister <br>
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WE REQUEST THAT YOU CALL OFF YOUR PLANNED VISIT TO YASUKUNI SHRINE ON AUGUST 15. <br>
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Dear Prime Minister Koizumi: <br>
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We understand that you are busy with state affairs these days. <br>
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On behalf of Christian world in Japan, we request that you not pay an official visit to the Religious Corporate, Yasukuni Shrine on August 15. Yasukuni Shrine was protected by the nation as State Shinto until the end of the Asia Pacific War and served as the spiritual foundation for the Emperor's military forces sent to invade the countries in Asia and Pacific; Yasukuni enshrined war dead as 'spirits' for their devotion to the Emperor. The State, on the basis of State Shinto, forced not only Japanese people but also other people in Asia to bow towards the Imperial Palace and worship at Shinto shrines, depriving them of their rights of freedom of religion and conscience. Reflecting deeply upon this past history, it was Article 20 of the Constitution, which stipulated the separation of religion and the state, ensured freedom of religion, and prohibited the interference or the protection of any particular religion by the state. The Article 89 also prohibits the use of public money for a religious institution. <br>
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Whatever the reasons and feelings may be for visiting the Shrine, if you, a high political leader of the nation, pay a visit to Yasukuni Shrine, it will definitely be an act of political interference in a particular religion (Religious Corporate, Yasukuni Shrine) and an act of violation against freedom of other religions including Christianity. We adamantly believe that your planned visit to Yasukuni Shrine is a critical issue that relates to our freedom of religion. We also fear, taking this opportunity, that voices to uphold the Yasukuni Shrine by the State will increase more and will continue to gain more momentum. There have been strong voices of protest raised against your planned visit to Yasukuni Shrine from neighboring countries such as China and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) which suffered greatly during the war. It is said that the person who slapped will easily forget what he did but the person who was slapped will never forget the pain. The relationship between Japan and Asia will exactly apply to this proverb. <br>
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Your planned visit to Yasukuni Shrine, which enshrined those who were responsible to promote the war of invasion into Asia, will result in slapping again people in Asia. \&quot;The Prime Minister respects Japanese Constitution and owes a duty to defend the constitution \&quot; (Article 99). We believe that you should not pay a visit to Yasukuni Shrine, in order for Japan to gain trust as a peace loving country from other Asian countries. We sincerely request that you give up the idea of paying a visit to Yasukuni Shrine. <br>
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Sincerely, <br>
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BP. Goro Matsuura (Bishop in charge, Japan Catholic Council for Justice and Peace) <br>
Rev. Tadashi Tsutada (President, Japan Evangelical Association) <br>
Ms. Reiko Suzuki (Moderator, National Christian Council in Japan) <br>
Rev. Seishi Ojima (Moderator, United Church of Christ in Japan) <br>
Rev. Junichiro Furumoto (Primate, Anglican Church of Japan) <br>
Rev. Jun Koizumi (President, Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church) <br>
Rev. Eiji Ando (President, Japan Baptist Convention) <br>
Rev. Kunihiko Amano (President, Japan Baptist Union) <br>
Rev. Kim Duk-Hwa (Moderator, Korean Christian Church in Japan) <br>
Rev. Yoshinobu Kubo (Moderator, Church of Christ in Japan) <br>
Rev. Shizuo Ono (Moderator, Reformed Church in Japan) <br>
Ms. Keiko Aoki (President, National YWCA of Japan) <br>
Ms. Kikue Takahashi (President, Japan Women's Temperance Union) <br>
Dr. Kenji Hara (Chairman, Executive Committee, Japan Christian Medical <br>
Association) <br>
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Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-29-2001
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Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.