UNAFEI
149 International Training Course
thClosing Ceremony – 29 September 2011
Farewell Speech By
Brian Kipling SamuelSaint Lucia
Honorable Members of the Diplomatic Corps;
Mr. Tatsuya SAKUMA, Director of UNAFEI;
Mr. Haruhiko UKAWA, Deputy Director of UNAFEI;
Mr. Hisanao NODA, Deputy Director of TIC, JICA;
Mr. Osamu SHIMIZU, President of Research and Training Institute of the Ministry ofJustice;
Faculty and Staff Members of UNAFEI; JICA Staff Members; Distinguished Guests;
Fellow Participants; Ladies and Gentlemen;
Good evening.
GENERAL REMARKS
Six weeks ago, ten overseas participants from Barbados, El Salvador, India, Indonesia,Nepal, Panama, Saint Lucia and Tanzania arrived in Tokyo. Coming from diverse partsof the world, we were of different backgrounds, cultures, beliefs and practices. However,
although we were total strangers to each other, we landed in Tokyo with two things incommon- We were all practitioners of our respective country’s justice system and wecame to participate in the 149th International United Nation’s Far East Training InstituteCourse under the theme “Securing the Protection and Cooperation of Witnesses andWhistle-blowers.”
Our progress from security checks by immigration and customs, to arrival at theJapanese International Cooperation Agency’s (JICA) desk at Narita, to the bus en-routeto Tokyo City Air Terminal, to the Japanese International Cooperation (JICE) Centre
was facilitated flawlessly.
At the JICA Centre, we received our general orientation and briefings during which allour questions were adequately answered and our logistical issues were taken care of.
In order to better prepare us for our stay in Japan, we received lectures on various
aspects of Japanese society including Japanese economy, Japanese education, Japanese
history and culture and so on.
Having been adequately prepared, we left for UNAFEI. Upon arrival, we were treatedwith an unforgettable reception; such had never been seen or experienced before. Inshort, it is difficult to find words that will do justice, in describing this reception; thefirst impression really lasted forever.
After receiving new orientation and briefings, it was introduction time. We wereintroduced to all UNAFEI’s staff from the director and deputy director, to the professors
and general staff. We too introduced ourselves. It was during this session we officially
met six Japanese men and women. They too, shared our commonalities. They were allpractitioners of their justice system and came to participate in the training programme.
THE COURSE
The main theme of the course was, “Securing the Protection and Cooperation ofWitnesses and Whistle-blowers.” Related matters were the obstruction of justice,corruption, immunity and mitigation of punishment. In our general information
hand-out, the objective of the course was stated as, “To give criminal justice officials
from Asia and Pacific region, and other regions, an opportunity to share experiences,
gain knowledge, and examine concrete measures against crime, especially measures tosecure protection and cooperation of witnesses and whistle-blowers. It is hoped thatparticipants will create an international network of counterparts.”
The means adopted in this course were- lectures, individual presentations, group
workshops and observation visits, and they proved very conducive for learning.
UNAFEI professors were all knowledgeable and experienced in the respective fields
they lectured on. Visiting experts truly represented the meaning of the word, experts.
They were vastly experienced practitioners in the field of prosecution and witnessprotection. Individual presentations and discussions in plenary or group, allowed us toshare our experiences and learn from each other. Study trips allowed us to observe andlearn from several aspects of the Japanese criminal justice system including the facilities
for witness protection at the Tokyo District Court; evidence handling and storage; theoperations of police kobans and programmes at the Juvenile Correctional Institute. We
also graced with the privilege to meet with the former Minister of Justice and a Justiceof the Supreme Court.
In short, the course achieved its objectives. All participants are now more
knowledgeable and sensitized to the subject areas. In addition, a new international
network against transnational organized crime has been established. As we go ourseparate ways, we wish to assure you that the network will not be broken but built upon.
In our respective justice systems, we will be more prepared to handle the issues dealt
with during the course and will endeavour to make an influential contribution towards
adopting best practices.
SOCIAL ASPECT
Despite the busy schedule, we found time for several social activities. The karaoke
parties provided the opportunity for participants to socialize with each other and also thedirector, deputy director and professors and staff of UNAFEI. In addition, we enjoyedparties hosted by Minister of Justice; Training Institute fro Correctional Personnel;
Nara’s District Prosecution Office; host families and Asian Crime Prevention
Foundation. We also enjoyed parties hosted by UNAFEI with legal apprentices and law
students.
In addition to the parties, we visited several interesting including shrines; rain forest fish
farm; a sake factory; Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial; a bus tour around Tokyo etc. We
will not forget the fun-filled table tennis tournament, during which we enjoyed theparticipation of the director, his deputy and UNAFEI’S professors and staff. TheJapanese language classes were very entertaining.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Now is the time to publicly acknowledge the many people and agencies who made thiscourse and our stay in Japan successful.
JICA
TIC
Course coordinator-Ms. Kiyomi Hoshino
Staff of JICE

Director of UNAFEI, his deputy, professors and staff; in particular, ProgrammingOfficer, Professor YANAKA, Deputy Programming Officer, Professor IZUMI andAssistant Programming Officer, Mr. Honda.
Justice FURUTA of the Supreme Court and Mr. EDA, former Minister of Justice
Fuchu Police Station
Hiroshima’s Prefectural Headquarters
Other agencies and departments of the Japanese Justice System
Director of TICP, its staff and trainees
ACPFInterpreters
Japanese language teachers
Government of Japan
Kitchen and Housekeeping staff of UNAFEI
Visiting experts and lecturers
Japanese course participants need special acknowledgement. From the time we met, wehave lived as family. You gave us your attention and time freely. You were there
whenever needed, whether it was for interpretation; direction; accompaniment;
explanation or just keeping us happy. Sometimes saying THANK YOU does not soundgood enough but we hope you get the message. You will remain in our memories
forever. You were truly ambassadors for your country. We all look forward to keeping intouch and most of all seeing you again. We wish you and your family the best the future
can bring.
CLOSING
During our stay in Japan, we have no complaints. I have said it before and wish to say it
again; Japanese hospitality is SIMPLY THE BEST.
I am sure all overseas participants will approve me saying, “I want to visit Japan again(in Japanese).
Thank you.

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