A rally calling for a retrial of the Sayama Case was held in Tokyo on May 23, the day Kazuo Ishikawa, then 24 years old, was falsely convicted of the murder of a high school girl in 1963. This Case underscores fundamental flaws in the Japanese criminal justice system and the discriminatory stereotyping against Buraku people. At the rally, many people, including his wife, defence team, lawyers, supporters and other victims of false accusations, gathered to call for the realisation of retrial and revision of retrial law as well as to express their condolences for Kazuo Ishikawa, who passed away on the 11th March 2025. With his death, the third […]

From 22 April to 9 May 2025, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) held its 115th session. During the session, CERD reviewed and adopted concluding observations on the reports of Gabon, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritius, the Republic of Korea and Ukraine. Highlights of the session included: Follow-up reports for Croatia, Germany, Morocco, Uruguay and Tajikistan were reviewed. Work was done to develop a joint general comment/recommendation on addressing and eradicating xenophobia and its impact on the rights of migrants, their families and other non-citizens affected by racial discrimination. A half-day general discussion to develop its general recommendation on reparations for the injustices of the transatlantic trade in enslaved […]

To celebrate the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (21 March), IMADR and the Japan NGO Network for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ERD-Net) organised the event on 19 March 2025. Approximately 100 people participated, including the general public, members of Parliament and the media.         (Photo: “Act Now! Time to adopt anti-discrimination law in Japan”) ICERD and Japan  In 1995, Japan acceded to ICERD under the following conditions: Without adjusting the domestic legal framework as to support the implementation of the Convention With reservation to Article 4 (a) and (b) on the prohibition of hate speech Without declaring its acceptance of the competence of […]

On 25 January, the Forum of Minority Women* organised an event in Osaka to reflect on and share insights from the recent review of the 9th periodic report of Japan by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). A total of 120 people participated, both in person and online. ◾︎ CEDAW and Women from Marginalised Communities in Japan ◾︎ Firstly, how women from marginalised communities have made their presence and situation visible through their involvement in CEDAW was shared. In 1985, Japan ratified Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. In 2003 (the consideration of the fourth and fifth periodic reports), for the […]