クリントン国務長官は６月14日、10回目となる
2010年人身売買報告書を発表した。177カ国を対象とする報告書は、現代の奴隷制度である人身売買の過酷な実態に立ち向かう各国政府の努力についての最も包括的な報告である。
http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2010/JAPAN (Tier 2)
Japan is a destination, and to a much lesser extent,
source and transit country for men, women, and
children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically
forced labor and forced prostitution. Male and female
migrant workers from China, Indonesia, the Philippines,
Vietnam, and other Asian countries are sometimes
subject to conditions of forced labor. Some women
and children from East Asia, Southeast Asia, Eastern
Europe, Russia, South America, and Latin America who
travel to Japan for employment or fraudulent marriage
are forced into prostitution. Japanese organized crime
syndicates (the Yakuza) are believed to play a significant
role in trafficking in Japan, both directly and indirectly.
Traffickers strictly control the movements of victims,
using debt bondage, threats of violence, and other
coercive psychological methods to control victims.
The media and NGOs continue to report abuses of the
Industrial Trainee and Technical Internship Program
(the “foreign trainee program”), including debt bondage,
restrictions on movement, unpaid overtime, and fraud
– elements which contribute to situations of trafficking.
Women typically faced debt upwards of $49,000 upon
commencement of their contracts, and had to pay
employers additional fees for living expenses, medical
care, and other necessities, leaving them predisposed to
debt bondage. “Fines” for misbehavior added to their
original debt, and the process that employers used to
calculate these debts was not transparent. A growing
and significant number of Japanese women and girls are
victims of sex trafficking in the country, a highly lucrative
industry for criminal networks and other operators
in Japan. In the case of domestic victims, the threat
of blackmail, credit card debts, and other debts from
loan sharks are often used as coercive mechanisms in
trafficking. Japan is a transit country for persons trafficked
from East Asia to North America. Japanese men continue
to be a significant source of demand for child sex tourism
in Southeast Asia.
The Government of Japan does not fully comply with the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so. During
the year, the government reported a record low number
of trafficking victims identified and trafficking offenders
prosecuted and convicted, while there was no empirical
evidence of a decline in Japan’s trafficking problem. In
December 2009, the government issued an Action Plan
to combat trafficking. Nevertheless, the government’s
efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking cases,
and identify and protect victims of trafficking remained
inadequate. The government has never prosecuted a case
of labor trafficking in the foreign trainee program. For the
fourth consecutive year, the number of trafficking victims
identified and assisted in Japan decreased significantly
with no credible signs of a concurrent decline in Japan’s
trafficking problem.
Recommendations for Japan: Establish and implement
formal victim identification procedures and train
personnel who have contact with individuals arrested
for prostitution, foreign trainees, or other migrants on
the use of these procedures to identify a greater number
of trafficking victims; expand proactive law enforcement
efforts to investigate trafficking in businesses employing
foreign workers and in commercial sex businesses; ensure
that victims are not punished for unlawful acts committed
as a direct result of being trafficked; increase prosecutions
and convictions of labor trafficking offenders; encourage
the National Police Agency and to Japanese Embassies
and Consulates instructing officials to cooperate to the
extent possible with foreign authorities in investigating
Japanese nationals involved in possible child sexual
exploitation; continue to increase the availability and use
of translation services and psychological counselors with
native language ability at shelters for victims; and inform
all identified victims of the availability of free legal
assistance and options for immigration relief.
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J A PA N
Prosecution
The Japanese government demonstrated diminished
anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts during the
reporting period. The government reported prosecuting
and convicting five individuals in 2009 under Penal Code
Article 226-2, Crimes of Buying or Selling of Human
Beings. The government did not report sentencing data
for the offenders. Historically, most convicted offenders
receive suspended sentences. Japan does not have a
comprehensive anti-trafficking laws, and does not keep
statistics on the number of trafficking cases it investigates
and prosecutes. Cooperation between the different
bureaucracies that handle trafficking cases is not always
conducive to establishing a clear statistical record that
includes prosecutions, convictions and sentencing. The
government did not adequately pursue investigations,
prosecutions, and convictions of organized crime groups
engaged in trafficking. Japan’s 2005 amendment to its
criminal code, which prohibits the buying and selling
of persons, and a variety of other criminal code articles
and laws, including the Labor Standards Law, and the
Law for Punishing Acts Related to Child Prostitution and
Child Pornography criminalizes trafficking and a wide
range of related activities. However, it is unclear if the
existing legal framework is sufficiently comprehensive
to criminalize all severe forms of trafficking in persons.
The 2005 Criminal Code amendment, prohibiting the
buying and selling of persons, prescribes penalties of
up to seven years’ imprisonment, which is sufficiently
stringent. The Immigration Bureau and Labor Standard
Inspection Bodies continued to report hundreds of abuses
by companies involved in the foreign trainee program.
While many of these abuses were not trafficking-related,
some serious abuses were reported including fraudulent
terms of employment, restrictions on movement,
withholding of salary payments, and debt bondage.
Trainees sometimes had their travel documents taken
from them and their movement controlled to prevent
escape. However, the government did not exhibit
efforts to adequately monitor and regulate its foreign
trainee program, and has never criminally investigated,
prosecuted, or convicted offenders of labor trafficking in
the program. In December 2009, a senior immigration
official was convicted and sentenced to two years’
imprisonment with labor on charges of accepting bribes
in exchange for favorable reviews of residence permits for
female bar workers. Corruption remains a serious concern
in the large and socially accepted entertainment industry
in Japan, but government efforts against such corruption
have been inadequate. The government sustained modest
partnerships with NGOs and international organizations
to train law enforcement officials on the recognition,
investigation, and prosecution of trafficking crimes.
Protection
The government demonstrated diminished effort to
identify and protect victims of trafficking during the
reporting period. The number of trafficking victims
identified overall by the Japanese government declined for
the fourth consecutive year. Police authorities identified
only 17 victims in 2009, down from 36 victims in 2008,
43 in 2007, 58 in 2006, and 116 in 2005. The government
did not identify any male victims of trafficking, nor did it
have any shelters available to male victims. Government
efforts to protect Japanese child sex trafficking victims
reportedly improved, but the government did not report
the number of such victims identified. Informed observers
continue to report that the government is not proactive
in searching for victims among vulnerable populations.
Although some Japanese authorities use an IOM-issued
handbook on victim identification, authorities did not
report having formal victim identification procedures.
Moreover, although personnel in the various Japanese
bureaucracies do have portfolios that include trafficking,
the government does not appear to have any law
enforcement or social services personnel dedicated solely
to the human trafficking issue. All of the 17 identified
victims were detained in government shelters for domestic
violence victims – Women’s Consulting Centers (WCCs)
– that denied victims freedom of movement. The victims
had access to medical care and received psychological
care from an international organization. All of these
victims were identified in vice establishments. Authorities
have never identified a trafficking victim in the large
population of foreign laborers in Japan, including in
the “foreign trainee program.” The government, in
partnership with NGOs, reported improving access to
native language interpreters. The government appears to
do a poor job of informing trafficking victims that legal
redress or compensation through a criminal or civil suit
is possible under Japanese law. While authorities reported
encouraging victims’ participation in the investigation
and prosecution of their traffickers, victims were not
provided with any incentives for participation, such
as the ability to work or generate income. Although
the government claims the availability of a long-term
residency visa for trafficking victims, no foreign victims
have ever been granted such a visa. In 2009, Japan
decreased its funding to the International Organization
for Migration (IOM) from $300,000 to less than $190,000
for repatriation and reintegration assistance, which has
had a detrimental effect on victim assistance efforts
in the country, resulting in foreign victims unable to
return home and victims unable to obtain reintegration
assistance.
Prevention
The Japanese government made limited efforts to prevent
trafficking in persons with assistance from international
organizations and NGOs. The government continued
distribution of posters and handouts to raise awareness
about trafficking. Authorities also continued law
enforcement training at the National Police University
and with IOM assistance. In July 2009, the government
established a temporary working group, which included
NGOs, to develop a new National Action Plan to combat
J O R D A N
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trafficking, which was released in December 2009,
though the new action plan does not include NGO
partnerships. The government continued to fund a
number of anti-trafficking projects around the world. For
years, a significant number of Japanese men have traveled
to other Asian countries, particularly the Philippines,
Cambodia, and Thailand, to engage in sex with children.
Authorities have not prosecuted a Japanese national
for child sex tourism since 2005, and did not report
investigating any such cases during the reporting period.
Despite the country’s thriving commercial sex industry,
the government did not make any efforts to reduce the
demand for commercial sex acts or the demand for child
sex tourism. Japan is not a party to the 2000 UN TIP
Protocol.
西暦２００４年に撮影された、現国王（ラーマ九世）の御料象のＣｈａａｎｇ ｐｈｕａｋ
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