Japan Press Weekly

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2012 March 14 - 20 [CIVIL RIGHTS]

Police collect personal data on students from Islamic nations

Many universities, colleges, and vocational schools submitted to police personal data concerning students from Islamic nations, according to information revealed by Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Shiokawa Tetsuya on March 16.

At a House Cabinet Committee meeting, he introduced information that was made available on the Internet in October 2010 of a document allegedly compiled by the Public Safety Bureau of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

The leaked document suggests that police received lists of names of 179 students from Islamic nations from Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology and the University of Electro-Communications as well as information regarding 16 Saudi Arabian students studying at Teikyo University.

Shiokawa pointed out the possibility that a large number of higher education institutions accepting foreign students have provided such lists to police. He said, “Submission of such information infringes on the overseas students’ right to privacy and will send a wrong message to their home countries that the Japanese police consider international students as potential criminals and keep files on them containing personal information.”

Shiokawa urged National Public Safety Commission Chair Matsubara Jin to erase the lists if the police still have it.