Complaints about G8 summit security

Exactly right. Debito is a citizen of Japan, not Japanese. He intentionally blurred the distinction to get a reaction out of his target. That he had a recorder on in the first place was indicative that he was fishing for a fight, not randomly caught up in one.

I have no doubts the profiling is real and security is tight up there in Hokkaido. There was even a piece on the TV this morning about the high security, showing police cars from all over Japan parked up there, shopkeepers complaining about how it was hurting tourism, basically everything Debito complained about aside from stopping people for “walking while white (with tape recorders on in their pockets)”. Obviously yet another watchdog failing in its role (sarcasm)…

The thing is, security has ALWAYS been tight at every other G8 summit, the cops have ALWAYS cracked down and been overly heavy-handed, EVERY year we get stories of anti-globalization protesters causing trouble, and every year it turns out that a significant number of those protesters are foreigners (meaning not natives of the country hosting the summit). I seem to recall complaints from the last two or three summits similar to what we are seeing now: the cops keeping tabs on non-locals in the area. I mean, let’s face it – how many tourists are going to descend on a G8 summit host city while the summit is going on just because they want to try to catch a glimpse of Bush or Putin or whoever? I’d wager not very many. In fact, I’d further wager most tourists would stay away, because they know the summit is going to turn the city into a circus and screw up any plans to just be “tourists”.

So when people start showing up, the cops already have reason to be suspicious. If you aren’t part of some country’s official entourage or a bona-fide member of the press, what are you doing there? You may be a resident, but how would the cops know that?

I saw on some site where someone suggested (I hope not seriously) that foreigners could “pre-clear” themselves with the cops and be given some sort of ID to wear, so the cops would instantly recognize the wearer as someone who belonged in the area. I thought “brilliant – how about a yellow star on the breast and again on your back?”

“The only terrorism that has occurred in Japan is home-grown”

Not true. The bomb that blew up in Narita in 1985 was planted by Sikhs. Kidnappings of Japanese by North Korean agents could probably be labeled “terrorism” as well. At least, they fit the definition a whole lot better than what happened in Akihabara. But yes, the majority of terrorist attacks in Japan have been home-grown.

“This kind of police questioning (職務質問) is normally reserved for people who are suspected of committing or being about to commit a crime.”

You are confusing shokumu shitsumon, covered Section Two of the Police Law, with checking the status of foreign residents, which is covered under Section 13 Clause 2 of the Foreign Registry Law. A common mistake among foreigners and even some Japanese. The police do not have to show cause to ask to see your passport or gaijin cards. They can demand it at any time, and you have to show it. A political decision to “do something” about illegal immigration was made, the results of that is that the police have to check for illegal immigrants. That is fairly standard procedure in a whole lot of countries.

“there is no logical reasoning behind this racial profiling”
Yes, there is: to combat illegal immigrants. Perfectly logical, if inconvenient if you happen to be a foreigner. A country has every right to secure its borders and control immigration. Again, requiring foreign residents to carry proof of their eligibility to live in the host country on their persons at all times, and empowering the police to check those documents, is fairly standard. The difference is that in a multi-ethnic society such as America or the UK, it is much more difficult to quickly spot who the foreigners are. So from time to time, as has been happening recently on Washington State ferries, for example, the police just check everyone and require all persons to carry proof of identity.

While doing blanket checks on everyone might seem more “fair” if you are a foreigner, the natives usually don’t see it that way, and rightly so.

“The Foreign Registry Law has that little loophole”
I do wish people would learn what “loophole” means and use it correctly. If a law or other governing rule specifically states “person X can do thus and so”, it is not a “loophole”. A loophole is when the law or rules do not specifically say that someone cannot do something even while saying something similar is not permissible. Example: It is illegal for one individual or one entity to contribute more than X dollars to a political candidate. However, there is nothing in the law that says that multiple corporate or non-profit entities all under the control of one person are, for the purposes of the law “one person” or “one entity”, so if each contributes the maximum amount the letter of the law is maintained even while the spirit is being flouted. That is a “loophole”.

“simply being foreign doesn’t make anyone more or less likely to be an illegal immigrant as opposed to a legal immigrant”
No, granted, but it makes one more likely to be in the coutry illegally than a Japanese, by definition. Checking to make sure foreigners are in the country legally is normal, standard practice everywhere I have ever been. As I said before, a country has a right to determine who comes in, how long they can stay and can and should check that those in the country are there legally.

“By this logic, everyone is equally as capable of being a terrorist regardless of race, no?”
Yes, agreed.

“Then why aren’t Japanese people being targeted as well?”
Because legally they cannot be. And there you have the dilemma: whether the cops are being tasked with fighting illegal immigration or terrorism, the law ties their hands in some regards, as well it should. Citizens cannot be targeted for ID checks without “reasonable suspicion”, citizens do not have to produce ID on demand and citizens cannot be fingerprinted except under very specific circumstances (arrested for a crime or enlisting in the self defense forces are two I have confirmed, I suspect police are a third group).

Your point about Asian foreigners is well taken. If a person looks Japanese, the cops have to assume they are Japanese, unless they have some other information such as the person is wandering around speaking Mandarin. However, the number of non-Asian Japanese is growing, and the issue of how to deal with that is something the cops need to be made to figure out. What happened in Chitose had the potential to turn into a stpe in that process, however someone decided to turn it into a “stop targeting foreigners” campaign (which is never going to get off the ground politically or realistically) when it should have been a “stop targeting Japanese just because they don’t “look” Japanese” campaign.

The thing is, even by launching such a limited campaign (stop discriminating against your fellow Japanese), if successful the results would be the same. Anyone with passable Japanese would be able to say “I am a Japanese citizen” and the interrogation would have to stop immediately. Get that word out, and have people doing that, and the cops are stuck. They may haul a few people in and catch them lying, but they will also know that the risks to themselves if they call the bluff and the person is Japanese are not small. Aversion to risk being what it is, most cops wouldn’t take the chance. Score one for the non-ethnic Japanese community.

But I guess we’ll have to wait for someone who can see the “big picture”, not just a “big self-promoting photo op” to pick up that flag.

“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?”

You are right, it is one’s public duty to cooperate with the police. But it is also one’s public duty to keep an eye on them. Those who have power always want more. Acquiescing to power merely because it is power does nothing but give more power to the one who wields it – and once they have power, they are unlikely to give it back. Japan has been down that path before, as have other countries, and as some are still going down today.

Fulfill your duties to society – and remember that one of those duties is knowing and exercising your rights.