The Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Mr. Doudou Diene, will undertake a visit to Japan from 3 to 12 July 2005 at the invitation of the Government.

The Special Rapporteur will travel to Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo and the island of Hokkaido to investigate the situation of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in the country, in particular in relation to a number of minority groups, such as the Buraku, the Korean and Chinese communities and the Ainu indigenous people from Hokkaido. He will also asses the factors of discrimination in the treatment of migrant workers, refugees and asylum seekers.

He is scheduled to meet with representatives of the Japanese Government, both at national and local level, with members of the judiciary, with non-governmental organizations and individuals dealing with issues related to his mandate, as well as with United Nations officials. He will also visit a number of the above-mentioned communities, in the areas where they live.

The Special Rapporteur will submit his final report on the visit to Japan to the sixty-second session of the Commission on Human Rights, in March 2006, and will include a summary of his findings in his interim report to the General Assembly, to be presented this fall.
Mr. Diene is the second personality to be appointed by the Commission on Human Rights to the position of Special Rapporteur on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, since the mandate was established in 1993. He was appointed on 25 April 2002 by Commission resolution 2002/68 and, in April 2005, his appointment has been renewed by the Commission for a further period of three years, through resolution 2005/64.

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United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Press Release
1 July 2005