HRW Calls on Japan to Adopt Regulation for Countering Uyghur Forced Labor

HRW Calls on Japan to Adopt Regulation for Countering Uyghur Forced Labor
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Japanese lawmakers and Uyghur activists convened in Tokyo on February 25 for an event organized by the Japan Uyghur Association to address alleged human rights abuses by China in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

According to Human Rights Watch, Keiji Furuya, a senior member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and chair of the Japan Uyghur Parliamentary Association, said it was important to send a strong global message regarding the treatment of Uyghurs. He previously indicated that his caucus would draft legislation modeled on the United States’ Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.

In a February 18 letter to the parliamentary association, Human Rights Watch urged Japan to adopt import restrictions targeting goods linked to state-imposed forced labor. The group recommended requiring companies to prove that high-risk products were not produced through forced labor and to apply such measures to any region where state-imposed forced labor is prevalent.

Rights organizations allege that since 2016, Chinese authorities have detained large numbers of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims, citing abuses including arbitrary detention, forced labor, and cultural persecution. Japan has previously raised concerns about Xinjiang at the United Nations and in bilateral talks with China.