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| Campaign for Religious Freedom |
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| Can you imagine someone being kidnapped on orders from his parents, and then held in confinement until he renounces his faith? Can you imagine a society in which such acts by parents are considered legitimate? Would you believe it if someone told you that such things are possible in a modern democratic nation that affirms freedom of religion among other fundamental human rights for all its citizens?
It turns out that roughly 4,300 such cases have occurred in Japan over the course of the past 43 years. As an extreme example, Mr. Toru Goto, a Unificationist in Japan, was held in confinement by his parents for twelve years and five months, in an effort by his parents to break his faith. During this time, he was subjected to invective, battery and assault. In protest to having his human rights severely violated, Mr. Goto refused to eat. When he decided to start eating again, his captors punished him by not feeding him, thus emaciating him nearly to the point of death. . He was thrown out of his virtual prison and left on the street with nothing. Luckily for him, on his walk out to find help, he bumped into a fellow Unificationist who cared for him and brought him to the local church center.
In Mr. Goto’s case and in many others, local law-enforcement authorities did not step in to help victims because the kidnappings and confinements were considered “family issues” that needed to be resolved by the families involved. However, when the police do not help someone being abused by his family because of that individual’s faith, they are in effect dehumanizing that individual based on his faith.
Article 20 of the Japanese constitution states, “Freedom of religion is guaranteed to all.” Moreover, Article 220 of the Japanese Penal Code says, “Anyone who would arrest or confine other individuals unlawfully shall be subject to imprisonment for a period of more than three months and no more than seven years.” There are no grounds whatsoever in Japanese law to allow for the kidnappings and confinements that have taken place.
It is time for Japan to face up to the reality of religious discrimination and persecution that is being perpetrated, not by underground terrorists or yakuza, but by its own law-enforcement agencies. No longer should Japanese citizens have to live in fear that their families may come and get them and confine for as long as it takes to get them to renounce their faith. |
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