Lecture for OIS (MUN)

1. Lecture for OIS (MUN) 9 January 2008 (Wednesday) 3:45-4:30

2. Human Rights and Role of NGOs By Etsuro Totsuka LL.M. Dr. Prof. of Ryukoku University

3. What is a NGO? • NGO is an abbreviation of “non-governmental organization”. • Does it include a mafia or a commercial company? • Usually, we use this term for non-profit organizations.

4. Gross violations of human rights • NGOs have their role to play. • Something terrible happening in mental hospitals. • Atrocities against mental patients. • What would you do? • Researches • Publications • Presentations • Lobbying to NGOs

5. I felt as if I were a little mouse. • Nightmares being crushed by an elephant. • A series of stressful events. • “Trial and error”: • My method for survival.

6. Part 1: Domestic community and NGOs

7. The first: a research. • Without a thorough research: • Nobody persuaded. • To find the truth. • Books and journals. • No internet information yet (1980).

8. The conclusion: • The Mental Hygiene Act • Serious defects. • Need for a legislative reform to stop atrocities. • There seemed to be no improvement without a radical reform. • Very few people in Japan, however, thought so.

9. Many abuses of detained mental patients: • Happening all over Japan. • What would you do? • Without actions, nothing would have happened. • The initial lobbying: • Wrote an article. • Published (the Asahi)

10. NGO contacts • Conscientious health professionals. • This NGO knew much about the real situation inside the system. • Much information. • My observation was confirmed. • They were reluctant, however, for a reform of the legal system.

11. It was the structural problem. • Very many people were being detained • indefinitely behind the bars in locked wards. • Lack of medical services: • No thorough examination for detention. • Little meaningful treatments. • A complaint might result in beating up. • In bad cases: to death.

12. No protections under the law. • No effective legal procedure to protect their freedom. • No way to seek freedom: • They could not to see a lawyer for discharge. • They could not write a letter or to make a telephone call to the outside community. • No system of independent experts’ visits of places of detention.

13. Helpless in changing law • Without speaking out, nobody would have known the problems. • I said it to seek for help. • I spoke and explained to many lawyers and • an organization of lawyers. • Most were appalled to hear this.

14. Advice to OIS students!!Take every chance to speak • speaking out • in every occasion • must be • always most effective. • Take the chance and practise!!!

15. Did they work for a reform? • I asked them to do something using their influence. • They, however, did not do so. • They probably did not know what to do. • Instead, they gave me advice.

16. Create a NGO !! • How can I, just a young junior lawyer, create a NGO? • Without trying: Alone. • I tried to create one: • The Committee for the Fund for Mental Health and Human Rights. • Three lawyers and some experts including health professionals joined it.

17. Work for the Bar!! • I was appointed as: • a vice chair of the Human Rights Committee of our bar association, the Daini Tokyo Bar Association. • Sub-committee on mental health, which was created on my request. • It published a report. • Later, we published three books and • called for a reform of the Mental Hygiene Act.

18. Convention on Human Rights • The JFBA’ the Japan Federation of Bar Associations. • The JFBA was against our proposals. • Their policy was to survive under the existing legal framework. • What would you do then?

19. Researches continued. • We succeeded in revelation of the Utsunomiya Mental Hospital scandal. • In it, two patients were killed and hundreds were illegally detained. • The JSP, the Asahi and we worked. • The debate before the National Diet. • All major newspaper published big articles. • Not enough for the legislative reform.

20. Part 2: International community and NGOs

21. Comparative law researches. • If you compare Japan with other countries, we can find Japan. • We visited Europe. • A network of international NGOs. • The experts of the HAI, Health Action Internationalwas very helpful. • They gave me much advice. • I could see experts in mental health field.

22. Visits to the UK • Psychiatrists, journalists and NGOs: • All of them were very helpful. • MIND, the National Association for Mental Healthhelped my research. • The case law of the ECHR. • I could develop my legal arguments • that Japan violated international human rights law such as the ICCPR.

23. Presentation to the UN. • Credential to the UN by a UN NGO: • The ILHR, International League for Human Rights had consultative status with the UN ECOSOC • The UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights in August 1984. • An intervention: A strong impact. • Major Japanese newspapers and the IHT. • Change of the political situation in Japan.

24. The UNOG and JFOR UNOG gate in 08/2007 JFOR intervention in 08/2006

25. A few fact-finding missions • The ICJ, International Commission of Juristssent the first missions in 1985. • The ICJ submitted its report including recommendations for a legal reform to P.M. Yasuhiro Nakasone and the UN. • This was followed by the missions from theDPI and the WFMH as well as two ICJ missions.

26. P.M. Nakasone • Decided to amend the MHA in 1986. • In Sep. 1987, the Bill for MHC was passed. • Voluntary admission was intoroduced. • The right to communication was achieved. • The right to be discharge was inproved. • The new supervisory body was created. • Reforms followed in the following 5 years.

27. Still many difficulties exists. There were, however, substantial improvements.