November 4-10, 2024

NORTHEAST ASIA

Righting wrongful convictions in Japan

It’s been over a month since a court finally ruled Iwao Hakamada,  the world’s longest-serving death row inmate, not guilty. Still, his recent exoneration continues to send shockwaves across Japan as it exposed a miscarriage of justice and the need for systemic reforms. 

Human Rights Watch has called on Japan’s national legislature to prioritize criminal justice reforms to prevent wrongful convictions in the future

“While it is important for the Public Prosecutors Office to review retrial practices, this alone is not enough. [The] new Diet should also open an inquiry that would lead to the adoption of legislative measures and other reforms,” said HRW’s Japan director Kanae Doi.

The call follows the Diet’s first session after the general elections on Oct. 27 and comes before the special session called for Nov. 11, after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party lost its majority in the election. 

FAST FACTS

• Hakamada, a former professional boxer, was sentenced to death in 1968 for a 1966 murder case involving his employer and family. But in a rare retrial that ended on Sept. 26, a court found that key evidence, including bloodstained clothing, was fabricated by investigators, and that Hakamata’s confession was coerced through torture and inhumane interrogation techniques.
• On Oct. 9, the Public Prosecutor’s Office waived its right to appeal the acquittal, with Prosecutor General Naomi Unemoto promising that her office will review “the fact that his retrial proceedings have taken such a long time.” 
• The case has brought to light serious flaws in Japan’s notoriously ruthless judicial system, particularly its opaque retrial process, which can lead to prolonged litigation and hinder the overturning of wrongful convictions. 
• HRW previously flagged what it called “hostage justice” in Japan, where prisoners are denied bail, coerced into confessions, and interrogated without legal counsel – unmistakable signs of a criminal justice system that “systematically violate the rights of accused persons. Wrongful convictions are so pervasive in Japan that the language has a specific term, “enzai,” to describe false accusations that ensnare individuals in the justice system.

ACTIONS SOUGHT

HRW has put forth a series of recommendations, including:

• Conduct a thorough investigation into the prevalence of forced confessions;
• Reform the country’s “dysfunctional” retrial system; and
• Abolish the death penalty in Japan. 

SOUTHEAST ASIA

Unlocking women’s rights in landlocked Laos

Laos’s impressive ranking last year – fifth in the Global Gender Gap Index 2023 – in women’s economic participation appears to have belied the unrelenting challenges women, including human rights defenders, face in the landlocked country.  

The persistence of these challenges came to the fore anew in the recent review by the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) of Laos’ compliance with the CEDAW convention. In its concluding observations, the international body highlighted serious concerns over restrictions imposed on NGOs and women activists in Laos, including cases of reprisals simply for doing their work.

Rights groups like the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Lao Movement for Human Rights (LMHR) have urged swift action from the Lao government to protect women rights defenders.

FAST FACTS

• Laos ranked ninth in Eastern Asia and the Pacific and 89th overall in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2024, which benchmarks the state of gender parity in the world’s countries across economic participation, education, health, and political empowerment. 

Gender equality rankings of Asian countries, 2024

Source: Global Gender Gap Report, 2024

• Despite its relatively stable performance, Laos was flagged by the U.N. CEDAW for, among others, the underrepresentation of women, especially among marginalized groups, in decision-making positions. Data show that as of 2023, only 21.95% of parliament seats were occupied by women. 
• U.N. CEDAW also noted the rise in human trafficking cases and the low rate of successful prosecutions. Rights groups have previously warned that traffickers were targeting women using predatory recruitment tactics, promising jobs in casinos as “chat girls” only to subject them to debt, forced labor, and sexual exploitation.
• The U.S. State Department’s 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report echoed this concern, stating that Laos has insufficient victim-centered policies, with limited support services and rehabilitation programs for trafficking survivors.

ACTIONS SOUGHT

The FIDH and LMHR affirm the calls of the U.N. CEDAW report to the Lao government, including:

• The adoption of comprehensive strategies to combat entrenched gender stereotypes and patriarchal attitudes; and
• The ratification of international human rights treaties, including the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, to enhance women’s rights protections.

SOUTH ASIA

Seeking out a breather

A deadly smog blanketing India and Pakistan – sworn rivals for decades – might just be the unlikely catalyst for a truce as government officials and scientists alike call for collaborative efforts to finally address this environmental scourge. 

As of Nov. 4, public officials in Pakistan’s most populous province Punjab have written to the Indian government calling for “climate diplomacy” amid skyrocketing levels of air pollution choking the two countries. 

India’s ministry of external affairs said it has not heard anything from Islamabad so far. 

While the main reason for the smog – crop burning – is “common to both the countries, the question is what we can learn from each other to deal with it,” said Bhargav Krishna, convenor at Sustainable Futures Collaborative, told South China Morning Post.

FAST FACTS

• Both countries are currently experiencing severe smog conditions, driving the already-poor air quality in many of their cities, including Punjab, to hazardous levels. These could lead to respiratory problems, heart diseases, and other health issues, especially for vulnerable populations like children and the elderly.
• In Lahore alone, the smog has already sent hundreds of people to hospitals while government officials ordered the closure of schools and for residents to not come out of their houses, reported Al Jazeera. 
• The smog is largely caused by the burning of crop residues to prepare fields for the next planting season. Ministry data showed that farm fires significantly worsened air pollution across just three days, contributing to more than 23% of pollution as of  Nov. 5. 
• Long-standing political, territorial, and religious tensions between the two countries have made it difficult to implement substantial solutions to this environmental scourge affecting Pakistan and India.
• Alarming levels of air pollution have shrouded other parts of South Asia, where cities are consistently ranked among the world’s most polluted.

ACTIONS SOUGHT

• Krishna suggested that India and Pakistan pursue multiple levels” to tackle rising smog such as, initially, by sharing research on air pollution and mitigating, or stopping, agricultural burning. 
• Punjab chief minister Maryam Nawaz has appealed for collaboration, or more precisely smog diplomacy, between the two countries.
• Sachida Nand Tripathi, dean of the Kotak School of Sustainability at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, urged the global community to address climate change and limit greenhouse gas emissions as greater global warming hinders the earth’s ability to disperse pollutants.

GLOBAL / REGIONAL

Protecting journalists – and democracy

There is no gainsaying that journalists, especially those covering wars and other crises, grave dangers to their lives. Now more than ever they find themselves in even more dangerous environments as data show more journalists are killed in crisis and conflict zones from Gaza to Myanmar, and elsewhere in the world 

On International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists (Nov. 2) U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Volker Turk called on the world’s governments to “do more” to prevent further attacks against, and to protect, journalists.

“We live in troubled times – and effective journalism is more important than ever,” he said. “I urge all those with influence to step up action to end impunity for crimes against journalists, to protect media workers, and to contribute to building open, just societies where the truth can flourish.”

FAST FACTS

• This year, the global commemoration of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists took place on Nov. 6-7, 2024, at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, themed “Safety of Journalists in Crises and Emergencies.”
• At the forum, U.N. secretary general Antonio Guterres flagged the “alarming rate of fatalities” of journalists, especially in conflict zones like Gaza, which has seen the highest number of killings (128 as of October 2024) of journalists and media workers in any war in decades. 
• Since 1993, over 1,700 journalists have been killed for reporting, with impunity in nine out of ten cases, according to the latest UNESCO data. In 2023 alone, 65 journalists were killed in the line of duty. These killings directly impact the state of press freedom in the world’s countries as they signal worsening conflicts and a breakdown of law and order. 
• According to the 2024 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders, the majority of Asian countries have “very serious,” “difficult” or “problematic” press freedom conditions, with Myanmar, Vietnam, and China scoring below 30 out of 100.
• Besides killings, journalists face other serious threats, including kidnapping, torture, physical attacks, and harassment. Even more vulnerable to attacks are women journalists, of whom 73% of those surveyed said they experienced online threats, intimidation, or insults.

ACTIONS SOUGHT

• Guterres has called on governments to investigate all crimes against journalists and prosecutor perpetrators. 
• Turk has urged governments to pass laws that would protect freedom of expression and information.