Clear Report on Witch Hunt in Japan Given to UN

Clear report on horrendous persecution in Japan written by French expert on human rights law submitted to UN bodies 

Patricia Duval, French attorney specialised in international human rights law, published on 25^th September 2024 in Bitter Winter, the leading international magazine on religious freedom and human rights, a spot-on analysis of the vicious persecution suffered by the Family Federation in Japan.

The article is what is called an executive summary, i.e. a short account of the main points of a longer report. Duval’s summary was submitted to United Nations bodies the same day, on 25^th September. It was presented in Geneva, Switzerland “to expose the outrageous violations they [Editor’s note: members of the Family Federation] had suffered of their most basic rights.”

In 2013, members reported human rights abuses, particularly abduction and faith-breaking – referred to as “deprogramming” – to UN institutions. These violations were addressed by the UN Human Rights Committee, which called on Japan to stop these practices. In addition, a landmark ruling by Tokyo’s High Court deemed the faith-breaking illegal, signaling hope for the members of the Family Federation.

However, the situation deteriorated after the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on 8th July 2022. Abe’s killer was the son of a member of the Family Federation, and the media, influenced by anti-religious lawyer groups, blamed the federation for Abe’s death. This led to a resurgence of hostility, discrimination, and violence against its members.

Patricia Duval sums up the horrendous ordeals that thousands of believers were forced to go through after having been kidnapped,

“Over three decades of deprogramming of Church members done with carte blanche from the government – abduction and confinement by families and subjection to enforced persuasion by Protestant pastors, a nationwide activity conveniently termed ‘protection’ by its advocates – resulted in an avalanche of civil cases […].”

For those cases, former members had been instructed by hostile lawyers to claim they had been harmed by the Family Federation. After having had their faith broken by so-called deprogrammers while being forcibly detained, the de-converted members were coerced by their faith-breakers or lawyers to file suits against the religious organisation.

Those lawyers, organized as National Network of Lawyers against Spiritual Sales, employed legal concepts hard to define like “brainwashing” and “undue influence” to challenge the legitimacy of donations made by members of the Family Federation. Japanese courts, adopting the narrative of these lawyers, viewed the practices of the faith society as solely profit-driven and ruled that its religious activities were anti-social and harmful to public welfare.

In response to Abe’s assassination and the pressure from leftwing lawyers hostile to the Family Federation, the Japanese government initiated proceedings to dissolve the federation, using 32 lost tort cases as justification. The government invoked Article 81 of the Religious Corporations Act, accusing the Family Federation of violating public welfare. However, the UN Human Rights Committee had previously advised Japan not to use the concept of “public welfare” to limit religious freedom, as it contradicts Article 18.3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Despite this, Japan enacted laws that further restricted the activities of the Family Federation, particularly regarding donations, and allowed former members to claim damages for alleged undue influence.

Duval writes,

“Nevertheless, and pending dissolution, the Japanese authorities have endeavored to hinder the church activities and, through the enactment of two tailor-made laws, prohibited ‘unjust solicitations’ which suppress ‘the free will’ of donors and organized the plundering of its assets by fostering claims for damages from deprogrammed members.”

Not only that: Duval points out that the Japanese authorities have enacted horrendous inhuman legislation in order to “plunder the assets”,

“Under the theory of undue influence, happy believers are stripped of their legal capacity in religious matters and their families are entitled to rescind their donations in their place, and to sue for damages for the alleged family break-up.”

The Japanese government also implemented measures that infringe upon the religious freedom of second-generation Family Federation members, aiming to sever their ties with their families and the federation communities. These efforts include reeducation programs led by apostate counselors and providing living spaces to isolate young members from their families, resembling practices seen in authoritarian regimes like China.

In her brief summary Duval explains,

“After endorsing illegal deprogramming of the UC members for decades, the Japanese government has now adopted a new plan to organize the reeducation of their children through human rights classes and counseling delivered by apostates-trained counsellors.

It is also organizing the estrangement of second-generation believers from their families like in totalitarian states, by offering them ‘a temporary living space away from their parents or other believers, facilitating their path to rebuilding their lives.’”

Duval concludes that these measures gravely violate the rights of Family Federation members, particularly their freedom of religion and their right to raise their children according to their beliefs. If the Japanese government’s actions continue unchecked, the Family Federation faces the risk of extinction in Japan, with its members being forced to either flee the country or abandon their faith under pressure.

Text: Knut Holdhus

Featured image above: Demonstration against the horrendous persecution and human rights violations that members of the Family Federation suffer in Japan. Here, from a demonstration in Yamaguchi, a city on the southwestern part of the main island of Honshu. Photo: FFWPU

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