2007.01.01 up
The government of Japan submitted its fifth report on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)[PDF592KB] to the United Nations in December 2006. The report is to be considered by the monitoring body for the treaty, the UN Human Rights Committee, but the schedules are not finalized yet as of January 2007.
The report has as many as 363 paragraphs (93 pages in Japanese), making visual presentations with a lot of charts and diagrams. Much of the information contained therein is outdated, however, perhaps due to the considerable time required for its finalization. Most of the information and data dates back to 2003 or 2004, and even "the latest information" comes from early 2005. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs intends to provide updated information, as may be necessary, when the report is considered by the UN Committee.
The previous reportwas submitted in June 1997 and considered in October 1998. The Committee adopted its concluding observations in the next month, containing 29 concerns and recommendations of the Committee. The Committee requested, in the concluding observations, that the fifth report should be submitted by October 2002.
See:
· Fifth periodic report of Japan on the Implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) [PDF 592KB]
· Fourth periodic report of Japan
· Concluding observations adopted by the Human Rights Committee