Three residents of Japan born abroad will file a complaint next Monday in Tokyo against the government to claim damages due to racial profiling by the Japanese police of which they say they are victims, their lawyers announced Wednesday, January 23.
These three men - one born in Pakistan, the other of African-American origin and the third from the Pacific Islands - were frequently stopped and questioned by police simply because of their ethnicity or appearance, depending on their lawyers.
“
This will be the first trial focused on racial profiling practiced by the
Japanese police”, even if other trials about excessive interrogations have already taken place, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers, Moe, told AFP. Miyashita.
The man born in Pakistan around 20 years ago came to Japan at the age of eight and obtained Japanese citizenship at 13.
“Unconstitutional and illegal” practice
In all, he has been questioned about 15 times by police in Japan, including outside his home twice last year, according to his lawyers.
The complainant from the Pacific, aged around 50, has been married to a Japanese woman since 2002 and acquired permanent resident status in the country.
He was questioned about 100 times by Japanese police, including twice in one day on four occasions, according to his lawyers, arguing that this practice of “
racially discriminatory
” police interrogations is “
unconstitutional and illegal
.”
The National Police Agency was not immediately available to respond to the accusations.
Immigration is increasing in Japan, but its foreign-born residents in 2022 represented only 2.3% of its total population, one of the lowest rates among Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries ( OECD), according to a report from this organization published this month.
Furthermore, only about 25% of foreigners living in Japan last year had permanent resident status, reflecting the “
strict conditions
” for obtaining this residence permit, according to the same report.