Human rights advocacy groups on Tuesday lashed out at the Japanese government for failing to address what they say are numerous discriminatory practices in a report submitted last year to a United Nations panel.
"The government's report on the current status of the discrimination is really sketchy," said Hideaki Uemura, representative of the Tokyo-based Citizens' Diplomatic Center for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. "It is even offensive to those who are suffering."
The signatory states of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination are obliged to submit regular reports to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, based in Geneva, for review.
Japan submitted an 81-page report in January 2000 and the committee will review the country's status on March 8 and 9.
The newer report, compiled by 12 nongovernmental organizations in January, criticized Japan's official report, saying that it merely mentioned existing laws and systems purportedly aimed at eliminating racial discrimination, but failed to note specific cases of lingering discrimination.
They said the government report did not make any mention of the continuing discrimination against and economic difficulties faced by Ainu, the indigenous people of Hokkaido.
The NGO report also sheds light on the plight of descendants of the "buraku" social outcasts, which they said had been ignored in the government report.
While the Japanese government maintains that the antidiscrimination convention does not cover such people, the NGOs said the term "racial discrimination" is defined in the convention as "any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, color, descent, or national or ethnic origin."
The groups said their report was sent to the members of the Geneva committee.