Photo/Illutration Moe Miyashita, center, a lawyer with the Tokyo Bar Association, addresses racial profiling in Japan at a news conference in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward on Sept. 9. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

If police officers patrolling streets single out individuals for questioning on the basis of the color of their skin or their facial features, they are guilty of practicing discrimination and violating their human rights.

A recent survey suggesting racial profiling by police has raised serious questions about the law enforcement authority’s policy concerning this issue.

The Tokyo Bar Association on Sept. 9 released the results of an online survey conducted in January and February that received responses from about 2,000 people living in Japan who have a foreign background.

The survey revealed that more than 60 percent of the respondents were questioned by patrolling police officers in the past five years, with 70 percent of them multiple times. Of all the respondents, 85 percent said they felt they were questioned because of their foreign backgrounds.

Unlike opinion polls by newspapers, the respondents for the survey were not chosen randomly, which raises issues about its reliability. Still, the results reflect a grim reality of this nation.

The Police Duties Execution Law stipulates that a police officer is allowed to stop and question an individual on the street when, for example, the officer has reasonable suspicion that the person may have committed a certain crime.

Unlike arrests or searches, which require a warrant issued by a court, decisions on stopping and questioning individuals on the street are mostly up to police officers, leaving much room to discretionary acts.

While people have the option of submitting to questioning, foreign nationals are often asked to present their residence cards, which they are legally required to carry around. Most foreign residents feel compelled to comply and actually present their cards.

Law enforcement’s selection of targets of investigation or other actions on the basis of race or nationality is called racial profiling. The United Nations has asked countries to ban this practice. This form of discrimination has led to the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. Japan is no stranger to this problem.

In December, the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo issued a warning in a Twitter post about U.S. residents in Japan being stopped and interviewed by Japanese police in suspected cases of racial profiling. This tweet was brought up during the latest ordinary Diet session.

In the bar association’s survey, half of the respondents who were questioned said the police officers also searched their luggage. Some complained that their dignity was violated as they were treated like criminals in front of many people or spoken to by police officers in a rude manner.

The National Police Agency is currently examining complaints or requests for advice concerning on-the-street questioning practiced by prefectural police departments nationwide.

The agency should move beyond such an internal examination and seek cooperation from foreign residents and independent lawyers for clarifying problems with police questioning.

Random questioning of people on the street sometimes leads to the arrest of a criminal. But this system needs to be based on broad public understanding and support to continue working effectively.

People who are treated unfairly by police only because they look like foreigners are likely to become distrustful of Japan itself.

If the government wants to lure more tourists and workers from abroad to maintain and expand the economy, it needs to ensure that Japan is not seen as a country that is not fully committed to protecting human rights.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 19

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