Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Faith-Breaking Victim Takes Stand in Japanese Civil Court
Luke HiguchiPublished: 03/11/13
The
following is a letter from Luke Higuchi, president of Survivors Against
Forced Exit (SAFE), regarding the opening of testimony in Civil Court
by Mr. Toru Goto, a faith-breaking survivor held against his will by
enemies of the Unification Church (UC) in Japan.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Our
Japanese brother, Toru Goto, who was kidnapped and held against his
will by his family and deprogrammers for more than 12 years, is asking
for America's prayers. He took the stand for his court case on March
11th from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Japanese time (March 10th 8:00 p.m. to
3:00 p.m. EST), and he needs your spiritual support. His criminal case
was thrown out by Japanese prosecutors, and he is now coming to the end
of a two-year civil trial. If Mr. Goto can win his court case, this will
be a big blow to the still-active Japanese deprogramming community and
possibly stop the kidnappings that continue with impunity.
Background Information:
Mr.
Goto (31) in 1996 visited his home and was kidnapped by his family. He
was confined in three separate apartments over a period of 12 years and 5
months. A professional faith-breaker frequently visited the third
apartment together with his family and ex-members, during which Mr. Goto
was severely harassed. Each time he tried to approach the entrance, his
family responded with brutal violence, leaving his face and hands
bloodied. After giving up on escaping by using force, he decided to go
on hunger strikes: 21 days, 21 days and 30 days.
Finally,
in February 2008, they threw him out of the apartment. By that time, he
had been virtually reduced to skin and bones and had great difficulty
walking. He had been kidnapped and confined when he was 31. He was now
already 44 years old. He managed to reach the Unification Church
headquarters in Tokyo and was rushed to a hospital where he stayed until
March 31, 2008.
In
May 2008, he filed papers with the Ogikubo district police accusing
those who had forcefully confined him. In February 2009, the police sent
the case to the prosecutors’ office. Unfortunately, on December 9,
2009, prosecutors refused to indict the defendants.
The Court Case
The
defense argues that there was no kidnapping and confinement and that Mr
Goto stayed in that tiny room for 12 years of his own volition.
Mr.
Goto's team found in a Unification Church (UC) headquarters storage
room, a hand-written manual explaining how to kidnap and deprogram UC
members, written in the handwriting of one of the defendants, Minister
Yasutomo Matsunaga. There is also a video tape of Minister Matsunaga
that goes over the steps already covered in the manual. It includes fine
points about how to break the spirit of a UC member. But Mr Goto's team
does not have as much evidence against Mr. Takashi Miyamura, the second
deprogrammer.
The timeline for the court case in 2013 is as follows:
- March 11th: Mr. Toru Goto takes the stand.
- April 8th: Ms. Kiyomi Miyama, who witnessed his captive condition, will take the stand.
- May 14th: The elder brother of Mr. Goto, who assisted in the kidnapping of Mr. Goto, will take the stand.
- June 3rd: Sister-in-law of Mr. Goto, who assisted in Mr Goto's confinement, and one of two deprogrammers, Minister Matsunaga will take the stand.
- June 17th: Mr. Takashi Miyamura, Mr Goto's second professional deprogrammer, will take the stand.
The judge will make a decision after these witnesses take the stand.
Ms. Kiyomi Miyama
The
following is a report from Ms. Kiyomi Miyama about Mr. Goto’s trial on
March 11th: “Overall, Mr. Toru Goto did a very good job. For the first
two hours, he shared his testimony and explained what he had endured at
the hands of the deprogrammers. Later that day, in the afternoon, Mr.
Goto’s brother and sister-in-law, Mr. Miyamura and Minister Matsunaga
took the stand against him as defendants. Their main questions were,
‘Why didn’t you escape? Why didn’t you just break the window? Why didn’t
you try to force your way out when there were only women in the room or
when people came to fix the plumbing and air conditioners?’ Mr. Goto
bravely provided a detailed explanation to each question. He also
mentioned that his captors began providing him less meals as punishment.
They accused him of lying, but he maintained a strong attitude and
continued to provide answers that were indisputable. The main lawyer on
the opposing side, Hiroshi Yamaguchi, had been very aggressive during
the beginning of the hearing, but he began to tone down and started the
questions, ‘How did you fundraise and what kinds of witnessing
activities did you do in your church?’ These questions had nothing to do
with Mr. Goto’s kidnapping; they were trying to switch the focus of
topic at hand. But Mr. Goto answered the questions very clearly and
slowly. The entire court case was dominated by his pace. He later said
that he felt spiritually encouraged, and he thanks all for their prayers
and support.”
The following is a statement from Human Rights Without Frontiers directed to the Japanese Government:
“The
failure to protect citizens from such crimes is a grave violation of
their constitutionally guaranteed rights and their international human
rights based on Japan’s legal obligation under the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Moreover, as 80 percent of
victims are women, Japan is also in violation of its obligations under
the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women signed and ratified by Japan.”
What Can We Do?
First and foremost, please pray for Mr Goto's trial.
Support
SAFE’s activities by helping us contact U.S. congressman to invite them
to visit Japan. When U.S. Congressman tell Japan that they are
violating international human rights law, Japan will respond.
We need more noise about these violations on college campuses and in grass-roots organizations.
Please contact me to learn more about how to help.
Luke Higuchi
President of SAFE
Email: safe1usa@gmail.com
