LIREC signed a statement on the “Religious liberty crisis in Japan".

The Global Religious Liberty Community Gathers to Denounce Religious Liberty Crisis in Japan

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12/31/2024 

By Bitter Winter     

[Press release] On December 31, 2024, an impressive number of global leaders in the field of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) signed a statement on the “religious liberty crisis in Japan.” They noted that after the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022, forces hostile to FoRB and to religious minorities used the incident to crack down on conservative religion and on groups some stigmatize as “cults.” Although the Unification Church (now known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, FFWPU) was initially targeted, the campaign extended to the Jehovah’s Witnesses and other groups.

New laws and regulations were passed limiting the right of religious minorities to solicit donations and transmit their faith to their children, raising objections by the United Nations, expressed in a statement by four UN Special Rapporteurs. The December 31 document also notes with concern that the UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Religion or Belief, Nazila Ghanea, “has requested an opportunity to visit Japan to examine the reports her office received on this potential violation. However, she has not received an answer to her request.”

The Japanese Law on Religious Corporations, the signatories note, which allows for dissolution of religious organizations that committed serious crimes, has been re-interpreted in a novel way to allow the government to file a case for dissolving the Unification Church/FFWPU, which has committed no crimes, based on the fact that it lost some civil (as opposite to criminal) cases concerning donations. This case is at the center of the most serious religious liberty crisis in a democratic country in a world today, the signatories said.

Two facts marked the year 2024 from the perspective of freedom of religion or belief, one negative and one positive, the signatories stated. The first is the unprecedent assault against FoRB in a country whose democratic institutions are generally respected and admired, Japan. The second is the coming together of a large coalition of academics, human rights activists, and religious leaders expressing their collective concern for the situation of FoRB and the crisis in Japan. This coalition is a sign of hope. It now calls on Japanese religious leaders to join its fight.

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Human Rights and Religious Freedom Impact Statement

A Religious Liberty Crisis in Japan

The July 8, 2022, assassination of Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shocked the world. Millions of people mourned this tragic loss and terrible crime. However, we, the undersigned scholars and human rights activists, who are concerned for freedom of religion or belief, and representatives of multiple faiths, have been further concerned to see how various forces are using this assassination to begin dismantling key human rights of religious believers in the democratic nation of Japan.

Prime Minister Abe was assassinated by a man called Tetsuya Yamagami. He claimed to want to punish Abe for his cooperation with organizations affiliated with the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, formerly known as the Unification Church. The assassin purportedly hated the Family Federation because his mother, a member, had declared bankruptcy in 2002 due, in part, to her generous donations to her religion. Less mentioned in the media is the fact that half of Mrs. Yamagami’s donations were returned to her in 2009 as part of a mutually agreed upon settlement. Also, Mr. Tetsuya Yamagami, her son, the assassin, was never a member of the religious movement and in fact signed a statement accepting the settlement mentioned above.

As a result of the Abe assassination, there was a sudden resurgence of old and largely politically motivated campaigns against the Unification Church. These efforts, relying on the populist but unscientific term “cult” also targeted other groups, including religions such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The campaign focused on the alleged pressures exerted by “cults” on their members to donate, and on the alleged deficient education of second-generation members of these movements. “Spiritual sales,” a disparaging term coined by opponents of the Unification Church in the 1980s, was frequently mentioned. The controversy referred to the sale of items such as miniature pagodas, seals, and other artifacts presented as bringing spiritual fortune; such sales were carried out by a company whose members were part of the Unification Church. By the time of the Abe assassination, these sales had largely ceased, and complaints were reduced to a handful, although cases of so-called “spiritual sales” still reached the courts even though they took place many years and even several decades earlier. As for the claim that second-generation members were not provided with good educational opportunities, only those who reported negative experiences were heard by the media and the politicians, ignoring the thousands who grew up happily in new religious movements and gladly remained there.

Three kinds of legal measures were introduced after the Abe assassination. First, the legal provisions about dissolution of a religious corporation were reinterpreted (and the new interpretation was applied retroactively). Before the Abe assassination, the law was interpreted to the effect that only religious corporations found guilty of major crimes could be dissolved. Now, to seek dissolution of the Family Federation, the government has reversed the previous interpretation and claims that having lost some civil cases is enough to be dissolved. If this minimalist basis for dissolution is upheld by the courts, then no religion will be safe from dissolution.

Second, new provisions were introduced limiting the possibility for “controversial” organizations to solicit donations and making it easier for those who had donated to such movements or their heirs and relatives to get their money back.

Third, guidelines in the form of Questions and Answers were published about the so-called deprivation of second-generation members of “controversial” religious movements and the so-called “religious abuse of children.” Several provisions of the guidelines have nothing to do with the Unification Church and target the Jehovah’s Witnesses and other conservative Christian groups. For example, it is regarded as abusive to prevent minors from celebrating birthdays (a practice typical of the Jehovah’s Witnesses), to admit minors to confession if during the confessional dialogue sex-related sins will be discussed (which normally happens in the Roman Catholic Church), or teaching minors about Hell or that abortion is not admitted in any circumstance (usual teachings in conservative Evangelical Christian denominations).

We express our concern for measures that threaten all religions, not the Family Federation alone, and not new religious movements alone. Many religious organizations may become involved in civil litigation, and if losing some civil cases is enough for dissolution, then nobody is safe. There is no definition of “controversial” or “anti-social” organizations. These labels are used against all religions by their opponents, and frequently against minority groups that are legitimate components of larger traditions such as Christianity or Buddhism. A general suspicion has been introduced against donations to religious bodies, based on discredited theories of “brainwashing” or “mental manipulation,” theories that scholars of religion in the West have debunked for more than forty years. The vague provisions on “religious abuse of children” target socialization of children in all conservative religions teaching minors values that are different from those shared by the majority.

We believe that the strong emotions generated by the Abe assassination, understandable though they may be, should not lead to legislation, administrative, or legal actions that violate human rights in Japan. A democracy should not arbitrarily harm the right of any religion to operate freely, collect donations, and transmit its faith and moral values to the next generation.

In a recent development concerning religious freedom issues in Japan, Dr. Nazila Ghanea, professor at Oxford University and United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, as well as Farida Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, issued a UN Mandate asking for explanations on questions about what appear to be violations of the ICCPR in relation to parents’ rights in guiding their children. The Mandate was sent directly to Japan on April 1, 2024, with a 60-day period for response. After the 60-day period expired without any such response being received, the Mandate was then made public on July 1, 2024.

The Special Rapporteurs state, “On 27 December 2022, the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare released a “Q&A on Responses to Child Abuse Related to Religious Beliefs, etc.”… The Q&A Guidelines were developed against the background of increased scrutiny and stigmatization of some religious or belief minorities following the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on 8 July 2022, as some religious groups’ activities were cited as possible motive for the murder. The Guidelines were drafted in consultation with the Japanese Society for Cult Prevention and Recovery (JSCPR), whose chairperson called for the recognition of a new type of child abuse by religious groups in October 2022 and had previously made public statements denigrating the Jehovah’s Witnesses and other religious or belief minorities.”

Dr. Ghanea has requested an opportunity to visit Japan to examine the reports her office received on this potential violation. However, she has not received an answer to her request.

It is important for Japan, a democratic country committed to due process, to abide by International Law and to honor requests for transparency on issues of freedom of religion, belief and fundamental human rights. In this case, however, it is clear that the Special Rapporteur’s request was made in connection to the publication of the above mentioned “Q&A on Responses to Child Abuse Related to Religious Beliefs, etc.” and that this publication led to a reported subsequent increase in hate crimes and hate speech against Jehovah’s Witnesses and other religious or belief minorities. 

In addition, in September 2024 Attorney Patricia Duval from France, who is a respected human rights specialist, filed a report on Japan with the office of the Rapporteurs. She highlights a decades-long pattern of religious discrimination against one minority religion, a pattern which constitutes an important but largely unnoticed backdrop to the issues raised in the UN Mandate.

We write to you, faith leaders in Japan, to encourage you to protect religious freedom and call upon the great nation of Japan to continue to uphold the covenants it currently has with the United Nations International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights and the Human Rights Declaration as well as the Constitution of Japan, which affirms religious freedom for all faiths.

This is a time when we should soberly ask “who will be next?” And everyone should remember the famous words of German Lutheran Pastor Martin Niemöller, who, when confronted with the tragedy of Nazism stated: “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

IMPACT STATEMENT SIGNATORIES:

Alessandro Amicarelli, President, European Federation for Freedom of Belief, Rome and Torino, Italy

Nicole Bauer, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, University of Graz, Austria

Luigi Berzano, Professor at the Department of Cultures, Politics & Society, University of Torino, Italy

Sam Brownback, Co-chair of the International Religious Freedom Summit

Dan Burton, Co-Chair International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace, U.S. House (R-IN, 1983-2012)

Francesco Curto, President, Fedinsieme (Faith Together), Torino, Italy

Raffaella Di Marzio, Director, The Center for Studies on Freedom of Religion, Belief, and Conscience, Rome, Italy

Cole Durham, Professor Emeritus of Law & Religion, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah

Willy Fautré, Director, Human Rights Without Frontiers, Brussels, Belgium

Jan Figel, former Special Envoy for the Promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief outside the EU, Bratislava, Slovakia

Holly Folk, Associate Professor of Global Humanities & Religions, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington

Bispo Edson Galeano, Assembly of God Church, Brazil

Massimo Introvigne, Managing Director, CESNUR, Center for Studies on New Religions, Torino, Italy

Michael Jenkins, President, The Washington Times Foundation

Karolina Maria Kotkowska, Assistant Professor, Centre for Comparative Studies of Civilizations, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

Camelia Marin, Deputy Director, Soteria International, Copenhagen, Denmark

Hans Noot, President, Gerard Noodt Foundation, Langenboom, The Netherlands

Marco Respinti, Director-in-charge, Bitter Winter magazine

Aaron Rhodes, President, Forum for Religious Freedom Europe, Vienna, Austria Executive Director International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights 1993-2007

James T. Richardson, Emeritus Professor of Sociology & Judicial Studies, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada

Bernadette Rigal-Cellard, Professor Emeritus in North American Studies & Religious & Social Studies, University of Bordeaux Montaigne (em.), Bordeaux, France

Thomas Selover, President, Professors World Peace Academy International, former Associate Professor of Religious Studies, University of Saskatchewan, Canada

Talib M. Shareef, Imam, The Nation’s Mosque, USA

Rosita Šorytė, President, International Observatory for the Religious Liberty of Refugees, Vilnius, Lithuania

G. Augustus Stallings, Jr. Archbishop, Imani Temple, Washington, D.C.

Katrina Lantos Swett, President, The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice, Co-Chair of Annual International Religious Freedom Summit

Sue Taylor, National Public Affairs Director, Church of Scientology National Affairs Office

Thierry Valle, President, Coordination des associations et des particuliers pour la liberté de conscience, Paris, France

Maria Vardé, Institute of Anthropological Sciences, Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina

René Wadlow, President, Association of World Citizens

Thomas Walsh, President, HJ International Graduate School for Peace and Public Leadership

Catherine Wessinger, Rev. H. James Yamauchi, S.J. Distinguished Professor of the History of Religions, Loyola University, New Orleans, Louisiana