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Human Rights Should Be Kan's Foreign Policy Priority
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DOI Kanae
Japan Director, Human Rights Watch
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Now that the Upper House elections are over, Prime Minister Kan Naoto
can at last concentrate on governing and making good on his pledge to
build a "society with the minimum level of unhappiness." One way Prime
Minister Kan could carry out this pledge would be to declare a
commitment to "human rights diplomacy" and begin by formulating a vision
for eliminating "unhappiness" not just in Japan, but also elsewhere in
Asia and around the world.
Looking at only our nearest neighbors
in Asia, it is easy to find many people suffering horrendous
"unhappiness" – massacres, rape as a weapon of war, arbitrary arrest and
torture in detention, the criminalization of free expression,
association and assembly, and other forms of political oppression. While
non-state actors such as armed insurgents are responsible for some of
these horrors, many others are caused by abusive governments.
As
a major aid donor to many Asian countries, the Japanese government is
in a unique position to assert its leadership to stop these governments
from inflicting "grave unhappiness." Japan should be using its
membership on various important international bodies such as the United
Nations Security Council to raise its voice against these rights abuses.
Instead, Japan has been reticent to speak out publicly on behalf of
victims of human rights abuses.
China's fast rise presents a
special challenge to the world in this area. China claims to be a
"responsible power," yet it is also a major human rights abuser. It
censors its own people, oppresses ethnic minorities in Tibet and
Xinjiang, and imprisons many people for exercising their rights to free
expression.
China also faces strong international criticism for
its core policy of "non-interference" in the internal affairs of other
states. That approach translates into providing considerable quantities
of unconditional economic aid to governments regardless of their rights
records, and maintaining close bilateral relations with abusive
governments such as Burma, Sudan and Zimbabwe.
Since our neighbor
China is making such strides in its efforts to emerge as a world power,
it becomes all the more important for Japan to revive its profile in
the world as a leader, not only in terms of its "hard" power of economic
might but also its "soft" power, by strongly promoting a diplomacy
based on human rights and the rule of law. However, in reality, Japan
has been extremely hesitant in publicly raising human rights issues with
its counterparts, including China. Defending its position, Japanese
diplomats refer to variety of obstacles including Japan's past abuses in
China and elsewhere during the Second World War. While it goes without
saying that the Kan administration must be mindful of Japan's past with
China, the past abuses should not be a reason to be less vigorous in its
support for universal human rights standards. Rather, as a past abuser,
Japan has a moral responsibility to protect the victims of on-going
abuses.
Further, promoting and protecting human rights in Asia is
necessary from a pragmatic standpoint, and consistent with Japan’s
national interests. In its Manifesto, the Kan administration promised
that, "for the creation of an East Asian Community, we will make our
best efforts to forge relationships of trust with China, Korea and other
Asian countries." But being able to truly trust China should mean
pressing it to demonstrate its respect for human rights, instead of
borrowing a page from China's strategy of turning a blind eye to abuse.
An
independent judiciary and free media can help monitor and ultimately
prevent corruption and injustice by government and corporations. Judges
and reporters focused on accountability and upholding the rule of law
can function as a self-cleansing mechanism for governance, such as
doctors who drain the pus before a festering boil of corruption gets out
of hand. However, there is neither an independent judiciary nor free
media in today's China, leading to a creeping accumulation of
dissatisfaction among its people that may explode at any time.
From
a long-term strategic perspective, Japan should gradually press China
to expand respect for human rights and political freedoms if we are to
create an "East Asian Community" with genuine prosperity and stability.
This is not only necessary for Japan, but would benefit China as well.
The
fight against impunity is another issue on which Japan's principles are
being tested. When there is evidence that a war crime may have been
committed and the state concerned fails to fulfill its international
obligation to investigate, an independent international inquiry is
called for, led by a respected body such as the United Nations. Will
Japan raise a principled voice in support of justice for the civilian
victims of a conflict, or will it tolerate impunity for senior
government officials and rebel leaders who abuse human rights? This
issue confronts Japan at this very moment over Israel and the
Palestinians, as well as Sri Lanka, and Burma.
Ending impunity
is essential to prevent future atrocities. As a leading democracy in
Asia, Japan should firmly uphold the principle of justice and
accountability in its relations with other governments.
Human
Rights diplomacy also comes into play with Japan's Official Development
Assistance (ODA). It has been two decades since Japan pledged to pay
full attention to "the situation regarding the protection of basic human
rights and freedoms in the recipient country" as one of the four
principles of its ODA Charter, but implementation of these principles
has lacked transparency, and at times, disregarded the substance of the
principles altogether. We have to remember that China is not the only
country criticized for its unconditional financial support to abusive
governments. Japan has been a long time major financial supporter to
some of the governments with notorious human rights record, including
countries such as Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Burma.
Japan should
clearly state that non-humanitarian aid is conditional on the efforts of
the recipient government to protect and promote basic human rights, as
measured by a concrete set of indicators. If the government is found to
be violating basic human rights, based on the indicators, Japan should
postpone extending financial aid until the country meets the standards.
With
its declining birthrate and aging population, Japan today is feeling
increasingly that it is being eclipsed by China and is in need of a
positive future vision. Precisely because Japan finds itself in this
state, the Kan administration should present a vision of a Japan as a
nation that used its diplomatic influence to put a stop to the serious
human rights violations around the world. This is Japan's
responsibility as a major Asian democracy and a sign that it truly has
reached maturity.
The writer is Japan Director of Human Rights Watch.
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August 2, 2010
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