【英日対訳】マイノリティ問題に関する国連特別報告者リタ・イザック氏より、SNSにコメントされた日本の皆さまへのメッセージ|2016.2.5
「人は誰も生まれながらにして、肌の色や生い立ちや、信仰を理由に人を憎んだりはしない。憎しみは教えられることでしか育たない。ならば愛も教えることで育つはず。愛することは、これに相対するものよりも、もっと自然に人の心に芽生えるものなのだから。」ネルソン・マンデラ
[Full Translation] Message from Ms. Rita Izsák-Ndiay, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, to the Japanese people who have commented on her unofficial visit to Japan
ソース
本編
This is to all people who commented on my unofficial visit to Japan:
Dear All,
first of all, I would like to thank you for taking your time to write me your comments and reflections on my recent unofficial visit to Tokyo. One of the main aims of my visit was indeed to stimulate more public discussion around the topics of inter-communal relations, hate speech and tolerance in Japan. Since social media was created to enable two-way communication, I believe it is important that I respond to you. This will be my only reaction: as my visit was unofficial (meaning that I was not invited by the Government of Japan), it will not result in any official report or statement.
※1 原文はtoleranceですが、通常社会の問題に触れる場合は「寛容の問題」とはせず「不寛容の問題」とするため、「不寛容」としました。
I regret the number of hate-filled messages appearing on my social media sites (here on FB and on Twitter) against various groups living in Japan, most often targeting Koreans. I especially regret the ones that are trying to justify hatred against them by explaining in detail why all Koreans are thieves, murderers, prostitutes, or rapists. This is absolutely unacceptable. In EVERY single nation and country in the world, there are unfortunately individuals who are thieves, murderers, prostitutes, or rapists but labelling entire communities, let it be a majority or a minority community, because of the action of a few people, is absolutely unacceptable and I will delete such messages from my private page consequently.
For those of you who worried about what kind of agenda I am serving, I am glad to tell you that nobody’s. I have written a UN report on “Hate speech and incitement to hatred against minorities in the media” in 2015 which you can read here: and I was invited by the Japanese Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA) to present it.
反差別国際運動による抄訳:
In my presentation at the symposium, I explained that the term “hate speech” is rarely used in international law. There are different expressions categorizing the nature of hate-filled speeches and most countries make a difference between incitement to genocide, advocacy for hatred and offensive languages for example, which in everyday discussions are often labelled under the common name of “hate speech”. In reality, these should have different legal consequences.
1) Direct and public incitement for genocide MUST be prohibited under international law (see Genocide Convention, Rome Statute etc).
2) Advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence CAN be prohibited as long as restrictions are legal, necessary and proportionate (Article 19 and 20 in ICCPR, Article 4 of CERD) and
3) expression of opinions and ideas that others may find offensive but does not meet the threshold of severity, at which restrictions on expression are permitted, SHOULD NOT be prohibited (see in detail Human Rights Committee’s General Comment No. 34).
However, legal action (which can be criminal, civil or administrative - depending of the severity) is not the only solution: social action bears a huge importance, especially in relation to the 3rd category of speech as described above. Coordinated action to address hate speech and hate crimes must include legislative steps and swift and efficient social responses, engage majority communities, including politicians, intellectuals, celebrities and ordinary people concerned about discrimination and hatred in their societies.
I also talked about how important it is to consider the elements of speech, such as the context, the speaker, the speaker’s intention, the content and form of expression, extend and magnitude of the speech and the likelihood of harm to occur as a result (see Rabat Plan of Action). For illustration, there is a big difference if a political leader says “Let’s burn the houses of all Pink People tonight!” in the national TV during evening news and if a young man posts “I hate Pink People” on Twitter where he has 15 followers.
I talked about the issue of nationality regarding a question about what is unique in Japan compared to other countries in my experience. I responsed that I was surprised to learn that many 3rd generation of Koreans who were born, raised and schooled in Japan and have Japanese as their mother tongue and consequently a strong Japanese identity didn’t even realize they were Koreans until their teenage years when they learnt that they have a Korean passport and can not vote in Japan for example.
Some commenters here on Facebook brought up the example of green card holders in the US. In fact it is an interesting comparison because the US is a country granting citizenship based on jus soli (right of the soil) and not based on jus sanguinis (right of blood) so if a foreign woman moves to the US at her 8th months of pregnancy and gives birth there (and is “subject to the jurisdiction thereof”, see 14th Constitutional Amendment), the child can potentially become a US President, automatically.
And those of you who were concerned that I didn’t listen to Japanese people, my response is that I met dozens of Japanese people and listened to them very carefully. Luckily, they were members of the majority of Japanese people who want peace, friendship and tolerance in the society and who are deeply committed to keep that social cohesion. There are thousands of Japanese people who stood up to protect those who are targeted solely based on their ethnic and national origin and I was deeply inspired and moved by their courageous actions.
I thank all of those who helped in the preparation and organization of my visit and all those who took their time to meet and talk to me. I wish you and all of us continued strength to teach people how to love each other “for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” (Nelson Mandela)
マイノリティ問題に関する国連特別報告者
リタ・イザック