On 8 July, the Committee considered the 4th and 5th periodic report of the Japanese Government during its 29th session. Nine years have passed since the last consideration. The JCLU sent its mission with five members to observe the session and to lobby the Committee Experts. The total number of missions sent from NGOs were 16 with about 50 members.
Trying to avoid overlap with issues covered by other NGOs' reports, the JCLU's mission focused their issues for lobby action on two points: National Human Rights Commission and Gender Education for Justice Personnel.
Prior to the Consideration, JNNC hosted a lunch-time briefing for Committee Experts on the 7th. From the JCLU, Ms. Masako Kamiya, the Representative Director and Professor of Gakushuin University, briefed on the above two issues. The Committee also had hearings with NGOs, and Ms. Miho Ohmi, a member of the Japanese Association of International Women's Rights, made a presentation as a representative of JNNC affiliated NGOs.
The next day, the whole session was spent on consideration of the Japan report. Ms. Mariko Bando, then Director of the Gender Equality Bureau, Cabinet Office, headed the Government delegates. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the National Police Agency, and other ministries also joined. However, the Ministry of Justice was absent despite its responsibility for the National Human Rights Commission, the detention system, and legislative policies on most gender issues.
A series of lobby actions have worked so effectively that experts raised many critical questions to the government about the matters presented by the NGOs. As for the JCLU's concerns, some experts expressed doubts on the effectiveness of remedies and the independency of the proposed National Human Rights Commission from the Government. It was also pointed out that CEDAW was not effectively applied in courts. The contents of gender education for judges were questioned, too.
Moreover, experts urged the Government ratification of Optional Protocol, the elimination of indirect gender discrimination against parttime workers (in Japan, most married women have much poorer chances of gaining fulltime jobs than men. Even if the work itself is the same as that of the fulltime workers, the salary of a partime worker is generally smaller), the introduction of affirmative action, the revision of discriminatory provisions in the Civil Code (the Japanese Civil Code keeps discrimination against children born out of wedlock in its provision on the distribution of inherited wealth), etc.
After the consideration, JNNC's activity in New York concluded with the a press conference and a reception with Government delegates.
The intensive activities by the JCLU and other JNNC affiliated NGOs were proved successful by the Committee's fruitful Concluding Comments.
The Concluding Comments released in early August included thirteen recommendations. The JCLU's proposals on the National Human Rights Commission and gender education were closely reflected. In paragraph 38 of the Comments, the Committee recommended that the government establish an independent National Human Rights Commission in accordance with the Paris Principle. This means an international organ found the current government proposal to be insufficient.
Paragraph 22 also reflected the JCLU's proposal. The comment says It also recommends campaigns to raise awareness about the Convention,Eaimed, inter alia, at parliamentarians, the judiciary and the legal profession in general.EOne expert said during the consideration that the government should take all possible countermeasures against continuous sexist remarks by Shintaro Ishihara, the Metropolitan governor. The intensive lobby actions on this issue, made by the JCLU and other NGOs during the consideration, were very effective (refer to the JCLU's report for the examples of discriminatory remarks by Public Officials).
As for domestic violence, establishment of the criteria proposed by the JCLU was not referred to in the Comment. But in paragraph 26, the Committee urge(d) the State party to broaden the Law for the Prevention of Spousal Violence and the Protection of Victims so as to include different forms of violence, increase the penalty for rape and include incest as a specific crime in its penal legislation.E
After the release of the Concluding Comments, each NGO's tasks were to disseminate them among citizens and other NGOs, and to utilize them in each fields as much as possible. The JCLU took various actions to accomplish these tasks. On 29 July, it held the regular seminar and shared its experience on its lobbying activities. It also released a statement to the government which demands a monitoring system to observe the implementation status of the CEDAW, as well as the realization of the Concluding Comments on JCLU-concerned matters.
The JCLU Project for CEDAW is currently performing in-depth research on the realization of the Concluding Comments.