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Ghosn, Yamashiro and the United Nations – Japan's Coercive Police Practices in the International Spotlight

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Nicholas Johnson
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In an effort to combat abuse of police powers by the world's most repressive regimes, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a “Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment” at a plenary meeting on December 9, 1988. Among other things, these rules declare that “A detained or imprisoned person shall have the right to be visited by and to correspond with, in particular, members of his family and shall be given adequate opportunity to communicate with the outside world, subject to reasonable conditions and restrictions as specified by law or lawful regulations.” Three years later the UN Commisssion on Human Rights created a five member “Working Group” charged with investigating “cases of detention imposed arbitrarily or otherwise inconsistently with the relevant international standards set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights” or in treaties or other international agreements.

Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 17 , Issue 19 , October 2019 , e4
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2019

References

Notes

1 See here.

2 See here. A brief history of the Working Group is available here. See also the 1992 report which sets out the mandate and investigative practices of the Working Group.

3 The Asahi provides a convenient time line of Ghosn's multiple arrests and detentions to April 25, 2019 here.

4 Kiriyama Keiichi, “Ghosn jiken to hitojichi shihō no yami,” Sekai, Feb. 2019, p. 42.

5 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 9. The full text is here.

6 “Call to Eliminate Japan's ‘Hostage Justice’ System by Japanese Legal Professionals,” an English translation, is available here. See also here. Japan's national bar association sponsored a symposium on the Working Group on June 4.

7 Ibid.

8 UN Human Rights Committee, “Concluding Observations on the 5th Periodic Report of Japan, 30 October 2008,” No. 19 and “Concluding Observations on the 6th Periodic Report of Japan, 20 August 2014.” UN Committee Against Torture, “Conclusions and Recommendations, 3 August 2007.” Both Committees are established by respective treaties to which Japan is a party. See also Lawrence Repeta, U.N. Committee Faults Japan Human Rights Performance, Demands Progress Report on Key Issues

9 Here is a summary providing dates of the Ghosn arrests and detentions.

10 The published opinion of the Working Group in the Yamashiro case provides a convenient timeline of arrests and detentions. “Opinion No. 55/2018 concerning Yamashiro Hiroji (Japan),” A list of Opinions and other documents issued by the Working Group is available here. See here.

11 2018 Attorneys White Paper (bengoshi hakusho), p. 90.

12 “Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment,” No. 15.

13 Ibid., No. 19.

14 The text of the appeal is available on the blog of Takano Takashi, one of Ghosn's attorneys. The brief order of the Supreme Court is here.

15 “Opinion No. 55/2018 concerning Yamashiro Hiroji (Japan),” para. 80.

16 Ibid., para. 69. Yamashiro was ultimately found guilty on all counts. He presently lives under the weight of a three-year suspended sentence. See here. His punishment for acts related to common forms of political expression incited the UN Special Rapporteur on Free Expression to write, “The Special Rapporteur expresses serious concern that Mr. Yamashiro's suspended sentence not only restricts him from any further exercise of his rights, but risks proving a broader deterrent against the right of freedom of assembly.” Follow up on country visit (to Japan), para. 11, here.

17 The reason the second arrest took place only three days after the first was apparently that the initial grounds for detention were so flimsy that a judge refused to approve detention. This would lead to an immediate second charge on October 20, 2016.

18 Ibid., paras. 66–67.

19 Behrouz Mehri, “Ghosn family seeks U.N. help against ‘judicial persecution’ in Japan,” (AFP) May 27, 2019, available here (accessed Sept. 18, 2019).