YOUR RIGHTS RE GETTING STOPPED BY JAPANESE COPS
(Taken with permission of the author)
CLIP AND SAVE:
YOUR RIGHTS RE GETTING STOPPED BY JAPANESE COPS
Hello All. Arudou Debito here. In case you didn't know, June is
"Policy Measures Against Illegal Foreign Workers Campaign Month"
(fuhou shuurou gaikokujin taisaku kyanpein gekkan. See June 9 photo
of a ceiling banner at JR Shinagawa Station indicating as such,
courtesy of Coal Restall, at
http://www.debito.org/shinagawabanner060904.jpg)
Sponsored (in part) by your friendly Tokyo Immigration Bureau, I
anticipate a lot of officially-sanctioned racial profiling around
town. I think it prudent for people to know their rights. Recommend
you print this email up and carry the law around with you. (I do.)
(Fuller 1998 report with romajinized Japanese at
http://www.debito.org/activistspage.html#checkpoints. All
translations of the Japanese by the author.)
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////
1) IF SOMEBODY ASKS FOR YOUR I.D. (namely your "Gaijin Card"):
meaning a hotelier, a video store, a JR staff member, etc., tell them
that only the police can demand it, under Foreign Registry Law
(Gaitouhou) Article 13 Clause 2:
====================================
"The Foreign Registry Law, Section 13, Clause 2. Foreigners, when
asked to show their Gaijin Cards by immigration investigation
officials (as outlined in separate laws), police, coast guard, or any
other national or local public official or group empowered by the
Ministry of Justice as part of the execution of their duties, must
show."
====================================
What you choose to show as I.D. is your decision. But some places
demand you display your passport or Gaijin Card just to receive
service. That is against the law. Next:
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////
2) IF THE POLICE ASK FOR YOUR I.D.:
ask why. Because, under Police Execution of Duties Law (Keisatsukan
Shokumu Shikkou Hou), Section 2:
====================================
"A police officer is able to ask for a person's ID, but only if based
on a reasonable judgment of a situation where the policeman sees some
strange conduct and some crime is being committed, or else he has
enough reason to suspect (utagau ni tariru soutou na riyuu) that a
person will commit or has committed a crime, or else it has been
acknowledged that a particular person knows a crime will be
committed. In these cases a police officer may stop a person for
questioning."
====================================
Meaning that there must be a *specific crime* or *suspicion of a
crime* before questioning can occur. Just being a foreigner is
insufficient probable cause, and without a good reason a policeman's
arbitrary questions to a stranger are against the law.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////
3) IF THE POLICE COME UP WITH A REASON FOR DEMANDING I.D.:
such as, if you are riding a bicycle, stopping you on the suspicion
that you may have stolen it (moreover, a sapient cop will know the
Gaitouhou trumps the Shokumu Shikkou Hou here), then, as a foreign
resident you will ultimately have to show your I.D.
However, there is a check. You can also ask the cop to show his
I.D., under Gaitouhou Section 13, Clause 3:
====================================
"The Foreign Registry Law, Section 13, Clause 3. Public officials
governed by the previous clause, if asking for the Gaijin Card
outside of their workplace, must carry a certificate of their
identity and present it if asked."
====================================
Once displayed, I recommend you write down the cop's I.D. details (he
will do the same for you--you might as well show him how it feels).
It will provide some deterrent against a cop overstepping his
authority. (If you really want to get serious about this, audio
record the conversation, and make sure the cop sees you are doing so.)
Note that legally, the cop only has to show I.D. if he stops you on
the street, or anywhere other than the Police Box. So, to avoid
showing I.D.:
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////
4) IF THE POLICE TRY TO TAKE YOU TO THE POLICE BOX (kouban):
they cannot do so against your will, unless they formally arrest you,
under the Shokumu Shikkou Hou Article 2, Clause 2 and 3:
====================================
Clause Two: "It is possible to ask a particular person to accompany
the [police] to a nearby police station, police branch [i.e. kouban],
or any police administration area for questioning if it is determined
that this place is unsuitable for questioning because it obstructs
traffic or is disadvantageous to the questionee."
Clause Three: "Unless there is a regulation relating to criminal
action, officials may not confine, bring back to any police
administration area, or else coerce a person to reply to questions
against his will."
====================================
which means that a cop has the right to ASK you to accompany him to
the Kouban, but you have the right to REFUSE, and he has no right to
restrict your movements without a formal charge or arrest.
I walk you through a possible scenario at
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////
CONCLUSION:
You might think I'm going overboard with all the legal stuff. But
these laws exist for a reason- to curb abuses of power. It is quite
obvious that the authorities and politicians are targeting people who
look foreign these days, often quite irresponsibly and regardless of
the facts. As international residents of Japan, I believe we should
at least let the authorities know that we are informed of our rights
and their responsibilities, and won't accept wanton targeting without
appropriate justification.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////
REFERENTIAL WEBSITES:
Overview of Problematic treatment of Japan's International Residents:
http://www.debito.org/activistspage.html#handout
Detention and interrogation of criminal suspects under Japanese law:
http://www.debito.org/activistspage.html#detention
National Police Agency's "DNA" Racial Profiling research:
http://www.debito.org/activistspage.html#racialprofiling
Immigration's "Snitch Site" for anonymous internet xenophobes:
http://www.debito.org/activistspage.html#snitchsite
The Koizumi Cabinet's Anti-Foreign-Crime Policy Putsch:
http://www.debito.org/activistspage.html#putsch
Political opportunism and unsubstantiated Foreigner Bashing:
http://www.debito.org/activistspage.html#opportunism
The roots and externalities of racial profiling:
http://www.debito.org/A.html
More newspaper articles and columns on the subject:
http://www.debito.org/publications.html#JOURNALISTIC
Arudou Debito
Sapporo
http://www.debito.org
debito@debito.org
June 18, 2004