Joint Questionnaire for Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election candidates regarding
the introduction of the "Human Rights Violation Sanctions Law"

Candidate's name

Q1. Do you support a "human rights violation
sanction law" in Japan? If you were elected to be
Q2. Please lay out any other policies you plan to introduce to promote humanthe LDP president, would you commit torights around the world.
introduce a "human rights violation sanction law"in Japan?
Human rights violations shall not be tolerated.

Taro Kono

It is one of the most important pillars of Japan's diplomacy to actively collaborate with states thatcherish shared values such as liberty, democracy, respect for fundamental human rights, and rule oflaw, in order to stand against states that are attempting to strengthen dictatorship and surveillance.

Nevertheless, as a candidate running for the head of theexecutive branch, I would refrain from commenting on
matters that should be discussed in the National Diet, thelegislative branch.

I support the law.

Seiko Noda

Nevertheless, as a matter of principle, I prioritize “resolutionthrough conversation” over “resolution by force.”
Coordinating with other G7 nations which have alreadyadopted Human Rights Violation Sanctions Law, I willprotest that human rights violation is intolerable, and strongly
request to share values and principles regarding human rights.

Even though there is the term “human rights diplomacy,” the reality is that even the G7 countries
have various human rights issues domestically which sometimes cause big problems. e situation
now is that states are pointing ngers at others while not acting on those domestic issues.
It is the same in our country. To avoid being criticized for holding double standards, the rst thing to
do is proactively solve human rights issues within Japan.

Yes.

Fumio Kishida

Sanae Takaichi

It is important to deal strictly with violations of human rights.
It is to my knowledge that the discussion is ongoing on non- As stated on page six of my policy handbook for this election, I will be “strengthening responses tohuman rights issues, including through the establishment of a new post (special advisor to prime
partisan basis, as it is considered important to have a wideminister) who is speci cally in charge of human rights issues.”
non-partisan understanding on the issue. I would like toclosely follow the non-partisan discussion, including thespeci c contents of the bill.
I currently serve as the chairman of the Parliamentary Group in Support of Southern Mongolia,
which is made up of members of parliament belonging to the Liberal Democratic Party. I do all thatI can to ensure that a resolution condemning human rights violations by the Chinese Communist
Party (CCP) in, among others, Southern Mongolia and Xinjiang is adopted by the Japanese Diet. e
CCP routinely brushes aside any criticisms regarding its human rights record by labeling them aninterference in its domestic a airs. However, human rights are an international issue. I consider it
Japan’s obligation as a sovereign state to contribute to the creation of an international order that isbased on liberty, human rights, democracy, and the rule of law, and to the safety of people both within
and outside its borders.

Yes.

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(honori cs omitted, in order of response, translated into English by HRW)
●Implementation period：September 17 - 22, 2021
●Implementer：Human Rights Watch/Youth Democracy Promotion Agency/IPAC: Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China/Yuki Kitazumi, Journalist/
Akira Igata (Economic Security Advisor, Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China)/Ai Kihara-Hunt/Kenji Isezaki (Professor, Institute of Global Studies, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies)