IJC Submits Letter to UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression: Japan’s Rejection of Journalist’s Passport Application Violates Right to Movement and Freedom of Expression

On July 16, 2024, the International Justice Clinic submitted a letter to Ms. Irene Khan, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, in connection with the Japanese Government’s denial of issuing a passport to a prominent independent journalist Mr. Yasuda Junpei. Mr. Yasuda over the years focused on reporting from conflict zones such as those in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. In Japan, major media companies with overseas networks increasingly tend to be wary of reporting from conflict zones to ensure the safety of their staff reporters, important facts have often been reported by independent journalists such as Mr. Yasuda.

The denial occurred in 2019 after Mr. Yasuda returned from Syria, following his release from over three years of captivity by an armed group. The rejection cited an entry ban imposed by the Turkish government when he returned to Japan from Syria via Istanbul. However, Mr. Yasuda has never been given any due process rights to dispute or even examine the grounds for such an entry ban.

The denial has prevented Mr. Yasuda from traveling internationally for any purpose. Mr. Yasuda stated: “The denial of my passport application is tantamount to a denial of myself, a rejection of half of my life story. I’m in my late 40s, a crucial time in my career, and for five years I’ve been unable to fulfill my profession.” Meanwhile, other international journalists who were captured in Syria around the same time as Mr. Yasuda are now reporting from outside their original countries, including conflict zones such as those in Ukraine.

A part of the problem lies in the Japanese Passport Act which allows the government to reject a passport application if the applicant has been subject to an entry ban from any country. The decision on who is permitted to be in the territory of a country generally remains the prerogative of that country and, indeed, countries, including Turkey, often impose entry bans on foreign individuals for arbitrary reasons. As such, the law gives blanket discretion to the Japanese government to choose whose passport application to reject among those submitted by individuals with an entry ban. Such wide discretion is prone to abuse, as seen in the case of Mr. Yasuda and another journalist, where the law was used to suppress those who visited conflict zones against the government’s evacuation orders. The consequences of such abuse are draconian—the total deprivation of the right to travel internationally, which is a fundamental human right and a premise for the realization of other human rights, such as freedom of expression, which guarantees the ability to impart information and opinions “without frontiers.” There is little chance that the law complies with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which Japan ratified decades ago.

In a domestic case filed by Mr. Yasuda, the government has persistently attempted to justify the law and the travel ban on him with weak arguments. They claim that the travel ban is necessary to protect Japan’s trust in international society, based on speculation that individuals subject to an entry ban like Mr. Yasuda may cause trouble abroad. However, under the ICCPR, such an abstract government interest would never justify the denial of his freedom of international travel and expression, nor does it justify the chilling effect on other journalists who wish to travel to conflict zones. It is even more so considering the critical role of journalism in conflict zones to provide accurate information necessary for humanitarian aid delivery, prosecute war crimes, raise international awareness of conflicts, and combat dis/mis information as long recognized and reaffirmed by an international court and international and regional human rights bodies and experts (you can find the relevant instruments in pages 6-8 of our letter).

Deeply concerned about the government’s reluctance to recognize the gross human rights violation and the district court’s excessively loose application of the ICCPR to the case, the IJC submitted a letter to Ms. Irene Khan requesting support to remediate the violation. Our key messages include:

• The law allowing the government to deny passport applications based on an entry ban by another country violates the right to movement and its interconnected rights such as the right to freedom of expression.
• To respect those rights and ensure a safe environment for journalists, Japanese Parliament should abolish the law. Until then, the government should take actions to prevent the abusive application of the law.
• The denial of Mr. Yasuda’s passport application violated his freedoms of movement and expression. The government should issue him a passport and provide full compensation for damages caused by the denial.

Despite robust civil society efforts, the domestication of the ICCPR within the Japanese government and courts is still ongoing. We hope that this letter and subsequent communication from Ms. Irene Khan will provide an opportunity for Japan to recognize the value of freedom of movement and expression, and to embed ICCPR compliance in its decision-making process.

Clinic students, Eric Lau (2L) and Micaela Shonafelt (2L), supported the Clinic in researching and drafting the letter.