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The story
A 5ch thread titled with the baiting claim that “Japan ranks 4th among major developed nations for judicial human-rights compliance” quickly spiraled into a broader pile-on against Japan’s criminal justice system. Posters brought up the real-life episode from Japan’s 2013 review before the UN Committee Against Torture, when the ambassador for human rights shouted “shut up” in English, alongside a string of wrongful-conviction cases — including the Iizuka case and the torture and evidence fabrication committed by detective Asao Kurebayashi. While many comments zeroed in on Japan’s notoriously long pretrial detention and the secrecy of interrogations, others argued the deeper problem isn’t the legal system itself but the public’s poor grasp of the presumption of innocence — splitting the debate into criticism of the system versus criticism of public attitudes.
What people said
[Geneva, Kyodo] It was revealed on the 13th that on May 22, during Japan's review before the UN Committee Against Torture under the human rights treaty, Japan's Ambassador for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, Hideaki Ueda, loudly shouted "shut up" in English. "Shut up" is considered an impolite expression in formal settings.
According to a Japanese NGO, during the review a committee member on the Committee Against Torture pointed out that "Japan's criminal justice system relies too heavily on confessions — it's like something out of the Middle Ages." When Ambassador Ueda countered, "Japan's human rights record is advanced. It's not like the Middle Ages," laughter broke out in the room, at which point Ueda reportedly shouted, "What's so funny? Shut up."
The guy's a diplomat and he's worse at arguing than a random poster online lol
Lol
This also explains why Japan still hasn't gotten removed from the UN's 'enemy state' clauses
It's pretty messed up that confessions from closed-door interrogations still get accepted as evidence
That's just over the top
They'll casually detain someone for almost 5 years
It's insane
When it comes to the justice system, Japan's on the level of some Islamic states
(image)How is this actually different from China?
It's the same thing
Separation of powers? More like unification of powers 😤
That's a mess lol
Source
https://www.nhk.jp/g/ts/57615R8KYY/blog/bl/pB78PQRjnA/bp/p73QxmqRlM/
Rotten to the core lol
Our justice system is corrupt from the courts all the way down to the investigators 🥹
At this point it's worse than a developing country
The attitude is "arrested = criminal = it's fine to ignore their human rights," so nobody's actually serious about reforming the system
Too many people don't even understand the presumption of innocence
The media doesn't help either — they report on anyone arrested like they're already confirmed guilty
Japanese culture and Western-style democracy really don't mix well
Asao Kurebayashi
In the cases he personally handled — the Koura case (death sentence, later acquitted), the Futamata case (death sentence, later acquitted), the Kojima case (life sentence, later acquitted), and the Shimada case (death sentence, later acquitted) — he tortured innocent people into false confessions and fabricated evidence, manufacturing one wrongful conviction after another. His methods went on to influence other Shizuoka Prefectural Police officers, including his own subordinates, and even though Kurebayashi himself wasn't directly involved in the investigation, they helped create the conditions for later wrongful convictions like the Hakamada case (death sentence, later acquitted).
Because he used every method imaginable to torture suspects into confessing, he's known as the "Torture King of the Showa Era" and the "King of Wrongful Convictions."
Kurebayashi devised various torture methods himself but didn't carry them out directly, instead ordering his subordinates to do so. A book about the Futamata case by Heihachi Yamazaki also alleges that Kurebayashi took bribes from the person believed to be the actual perpetrator.
(image)Nah, this is way too much
Honestly this guy should've gotten the death penalty himself
People really can become this evil…
Does this guy not have a conscience at all?
If things had improved after this, fine, but it's wild that Japan's still churning out wrongful convictions even in the Reiwa era, like the Okawa case
Judge: "The evidence photo's mysteriously been cropped, but… death sentence!"
Justice Minister: "The evidence fabrication got exposed and there's a retrial request!? Execute him anyway!!"
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/飯塚事件 (the Iizuka case)
Corrupt from top to bottom
Chinese prosecutors probably investigate more properly than this
This is basically no different from some random socialist dictatorship at this point
• Location: Japan's review before the UN Committee Against Torture
• Person: Hideaki Ueda (Foreign Ministry's Ambassador for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs)
How it went down
• A committee member pointed out that "Japan's criminal justice relies too much on confessions — it's like the Middle Ages."
• When Ambassador Ueda countered with "Japan is one of the most advanced countries in human rights," the room burst out laughing.
• The furious ambassador shouted in English, "Don't laugh!" and "Shut up!"
Lol
This is genuinely embarrassing
Sorry, but you can't really complain about being laughed at after that…
Even medieval witch trials needed physical evidence before they'd burn you at the stake
So that means Japan is below medieval Europe
Background and Key Points of This Debate
Ambassador Hideaki Ueda’s “shut up” outburst was a real, documented incident from Japan’s review before the UN Committee Against Torture in Geneva in May 2013, triggered while he was pushing back against criticism that Japan’s confession-heavy interrogations were “like the Middle Ages.” The Iizuka case dates back to 1992; the death sentence was finalized in 2006 and carried out in 2008, and requests for a retrial have continued since, centered on questions about the reliability of the DNA evidence. Asao Kurebayashi was a real Shizuoka Prefectural Police detective from the Showa era whose work turned multiple death and life sentences into later-overturned wrongful convictions. All of these are well-documented, repeatedly reported facts cited as evidence of structural problems in Japan’s justice system — but the thread title’s specific claim that Japan ranks “4th in the world” cites no source and was never verified within the thread itself, something readers should be careful not to take at face value. Alongside criticism of the system itself, this discussion was also notable for raising the view that the deeper issue is public misunderstanding of the presumption of innocence.
※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Live News General) thread “[Great News] Japan Ranks 4th in the World for Judicial Human Rights Compliance Among Major Developed Nations!!!!!!!!!“
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