Human Rights Program assists on shadow report documenting LGBTI discrimination in Japan
Report, formally issued by a coalition of international organizations, is cited by the UN Human Rights Committee in periodic evaluation of Japan’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic, working with a coalition of international non-governmental organizations, assisted with a shadow report submitted to the UN Human Rights Committee addressing issues of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) discrimination in Japan. Japan, a member state of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), was reviewed before the UN Human Rights Committee during the Committee’s 94th session in October 2008.
Harvard Law Student Lauren Birchfield (J.D. ’09), under the supervision of Lecturer on Law Mindy Jane Roseman, worked on the report with representatives of Global Rights’ LGBTI Initiative, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, and GayJapanNews. The shadow report examined discrimination against LGBTI individuals in employment, housing, social security, health care, and education in Japan. Further, the report found that Japan’s Public Housing Law unfairly excluded unmarried same-sex couples from renting public housing, and that Japan’s Law for the Prevention of Spousal Violence and the Protection of Victims did not protect same-sex partners.
The UN Human Rights Committee, in their concluding observations for Japan, cited the Global Rights shadow report and urged Japan to consider amending both pieces of legislation to comply with article 26 of the ICCPR, which states that all persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law.
“The State party should consider amending its legislation, with a view to including sexual orientation among the prohibited grounds of discrimination, and ensure that benefits granted to unmarried cohabitating opposite-sex couples are equally granted to unmarried cohabitating same—sex couple,” the Committee wrote.
According to Global Rights, the concluding observations by the UN Human Rights Committee explicitly mention transgender rights for the first time in a report by the Committee.
To view a copy of the UN Human Rights Committee’s “Concluding Observations” on Japan, go to http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/docs/co/CCPR-C-JPN-CO.5.doc. To view a copy of the Global Rights Shadow Report, go to http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/docs/ngos/GlobalRights_Japan94.doc.