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Japanese
Greeting from the President
OBATA Kaoru,
13th President of the International Human Rights Law Association in Japan
Welcome to the website of the International Human Rights Law Association, Japan! I am OBATA Kaoru, serving as the President of the Association for three years starting in November 2024. I would like to take this opportunity to extend my warmest regards to you.
The Association was founded in December 1988, the 40th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Association’s Constitution states that its purpose is “to study international and domestic issues concerning human rights in cooperation with related academic disciplines”. In the 36 years since then, I believe that now the Association and its members are legitimately expected to play their roles no more than ever.
This is partly because the global crisis of human society is having a profound impact on the lives and livelihoods of human beings at the grassroot level. Armed conflicts with open threats to use nuclear weapons are growing in scope and severity, accompanied by a logic of global division in which if you are not an “friend” you are considered an “enemy.” Furthermore, the “enemy” is labelled as “human animals,” and even minimum security of their life is violently deprived of them day by day. For another, it is finally coming to light that Japanese society, whose potential for postwar reconstruction and peer pressure were two sides of the same coin, has been accompanied by many and serious “invisible” human rights violations against marginalized people. The system of indefinite detention of foreigners without trial and the Eugenic Protection Act may be recalled here. The right to be recognized everywhere as a human person and the right to personal integrity must never be denied, even if one is not regarded as a bearer of, and a contributor to, a given nation-state and a national economy. The idea of “human rights,” which has been internationally recognized since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is finally beginning to be taken to be granted in Japanese society.
Thus, there is no doubt that “considering human rights in the context of international relations” (the Founding Statement) is an unavoidable path for law and other related disciplines today. It is however an extremely difficult path to balance the demands for a “more systematic” and “more interdisciplinary” approach (ibid.), and there is not much that can be done with the limited resources currently available to the Association. Certainly, it is extremely difficult to continue to meet the expectations of society in general and every of our members. We must set some focus for the moment. I would like to indicate three points as guidelines that we may keep in mind over the next three years.
First, always be aware of the “international instance,” so to speak, when addressing even the smallest of human rights issues. Second, we can pursue a non-judgmental approach, which means that we should study not only judicial decisions, but also discussion for promotion of human rights. Third, with regard to international exchange, we can, at least for the time being, focus on Asia.
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