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Ban on door-to-door electioneering is illegal: former UN commissioner testifies

At a local court trial concerning a former Japanese Communist Party city assembly member who was arrested and indicted for violating the public officers election law, a former United Nations commissioner on human rights stated that such a ban violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The trial took place on June 27 in the Oita District Court over the case of Oishi Tadaaki, Japanese Communist Party member of the Bungo Takada City's assembly in Oita Prefecture, who was charged with distributing JCP supporter organization's leaflets before the election.

Since he ran for an election when he was 28, Oishi published a total of 1,670 issues of the local newsletter titled, "Takada for everyone."

As the first UN Human Rights Commissioner to be called as a witness before Japan's court, former commissioner Elizabeth Evatt spoke for the defendant. Quoting the Covenant's Clause 2, Article 15 concerning the freedom of expression, she stated that charging Oishi for exercising his freedom of expression contravenes the covenant. Any court in Japan, a member state to the covenant, is required to recognize and respect this commission view.

Evatt, an Australian, stated that citizens' freedom of expression is most essential to a democratic society and that must be not be restricted.

Among various kinds of home visits such as sales and missionary work, banning exclusively political "door-to-door visits" is unjustifiable.Such a visit is not rare, she stressed.

She also stated that under the covenant, the ban on or limitation to distributing leaflets and preelection campaign materials are groundless. -Akahata, June 28, 2005