BEIJING, July 12 -- A United Nations (UN) investigator said yesterday there was clear evidence of discrimination against minorities in Japan and called on the government to pass a national law against it.

    Doudou Diene, a UN special rapporteur on racism and xenophobia, said that during a nine-day visit to Japan, the world's second-largest economy, he got little sense of political will to tackle the problem.

    "Japan is a world economic power and a world political power...but Japanese society is somehow insular," he told a news conference in Tokyo. "My conclusion as a special rapporteur is yes, there is discrimination in Japan."

    Diene, a Senegalese lawyer, said he would "strongly recommend" in a report to the UN Commission on Human Rights next March that Japan enact a national law against discrimination.

    "The lack of a national law creates a void, and this void is exploited by those who are practising discrimination or expressing racist or discriminating feelings," he said.

    Japan's constitution bans racial discrimination but there are no penalties specified.

    Among minority groups in Japan are ethnic Koreans and Chinese, including descendants of people forcibly brought over before and during World War II who are essentially Japanese but still face problems.

    Other minority groups include the Ainu, indigenous to northern Japan, and burakumin, who are racially and culturally indistinguishable from other Japanese but have for centuries been subject to discrimination in jobs and marriage.

    More recently, there has been a slow but steady influx of immigrants from a wide range of nations, some of whom have also faced discrimination in areas such as housing.

    Japan has also been criticized by human rights groups for its restrictive attitude towards refugees, few of whom are granted refugee status by authorities.

    Diene said Japan had been co-operative with his mission but he had not met any cabinet ministers.

    "At the political level, certainly there is need for strong recognition of the reality of discrimination," he said. "Second, (there is need for) the expression of a political will to combat it."

    He also said he was discouraged by the general exclusion of the nation-building contributions of minorities in textbooks.

    Diene said his final report will likely recommend Japan enact a national law condemning discrimination, legislation which it now lacks, and increased consultation between officials and minority groups to identify and ease discrimination problems.

    
(Source: China Daily)