Internal documents that outright instruct police officers in Aichi Prefecture to stop and search foreigners have come into the public light. Authorities are tripping over themselves to explain, while officials dispute how Japan ought to solve – or not solve – racial profiling in law enforcement.
Damning evidence and blind eyes
On Thursday, Japanese law enforcement said it “cannot find” an internal document that encouraged officers to stop and search foreigners after plaintiffs obtained and entered it into evidence.
Three foreign-born residents filed a lawsuit in January. They allege police questioned them repeatedly on the police based on their race, skin color, nationality, and other factors. They say the actions constitute discrimination in violation of Japan’s Constitution. Plaintiffs seek 3 million yen (about 19,000 USD) in compensation per person from the national government, the Tokyo metropolitan government, and the Aichi prefectural government.
The plaintiffs submitted an internal document to the Tokyo District Court. The Aichi prefectural police department report bears the title “Office Materials: Essentials for Responding in The Field for Young Police Officers” (2009). One section was titled “Discovering Delinquent Foreigners in Japan.”
According to the lawsuit, the section read as follows:
“Mindset ☆You can arrest foreigners for failing to present their passport! ◎Foreigners [break] Immigration Laws, [commit] drug crimes, and [break] the Swords and Firearms Control Law, [and] anything works!! ◎Ask for backup, pursue [foreigners] and search their belongings thoroughly!!!”
“For people who are identified as foreigners in one look and do not speak Japanese, thoroughly pursue and search their personal belongings with the firm belief that there is absolutely some kind of illegal activity. This includes not carrying one’s passport, illegal residence, illegal overstay, possession/use of drugs, guns, swords, knives, etc.”
Elusive document story
On June 13th, an Upper House member read out the above quotes at a Committee on Judicial Affairs meeting. They asked the Tokyo metropolitan police department (TMPD) if the descriptions were true.
A TMPD official said they were briefed that Aichi police “cannot find” the document in question, contradicting answers it gave earlier this month.
The Upper House Cabinet Committee asked how long the Aichi police had used the document. TMPD replied on June 6th that “after checking with the Aichi prefectural police department regarding the document in question,” it was “reported back that the date of updates [to the document] cannot be confirmed.”
Probe and reform without full support
The Upper House noted the discrepancy between the TMPD’s statements. It ordered TMPD to reinvestigate and report to the committee on “the existence of the document and its description’s content.”
In stark contrast, the Cabinet Committee will not facilitate an investigation, according to remarks by Matsumura Yoshifumi, Chairman of the National Public Security Commission. “I don’t see a need to check each and every office document of the prefectural police departments,” he said.
Matsumura also opposes a proposal to create police guidelines to prevent racial profiling. “The stop-and-search by police officers is stipulated in the Police Duties Execution Act, Article 2. This is the only requirement for police to conduct questioning,” he said.
More incidents than known
The 2009 document is not the first or only instance of alleged racial profiling on paper. In 2021, Aichi police issued a document that read: ” Foreigners are often in possession of prohibited items such as knives for self-defense and illegal drugs. As such, we will conduct thorough and detailed inspections of personal belongings.”
The TMPD conducted a study in 2022 in the wake of multiple instances of racial profiling in the news. It concluded that six cases of “inappropriate and careless language or behavior” had occurred across four prefectural police departments.
A Tokyo Bar Association study disputed this tiny number, reporting that it found 2,094 cases.
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Sources
「外国人は必ず不法行為」警察庁、警官の内部資料を認める→「確認の必要ない」と松村国家公安委員長. Huff Post
