JAPAN WILL NOT BUDGE ON DECLARATION OF INDIGENOUS

C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 005992 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2026 TAGS: PHUM PREL KTIA UN JA SUBJECT: JAPAN WILL NOT BUDGE ON DECLARATION OF INDIGENOUS RIGHTS REF: STATE 169257 Classified By: Classified by Political Section Deputy Carol T. Reynolds for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). (C) Embassy Tokyo Political Officer joined New Zealand Embassy and Australian Embassy political officers in delivering reftel demarche October 13 to MOFA Human Rights Division Director Tetsuya Kimura. Kimura said that MOFA has coordinated with other agencies of the Japanese government to decide its policy toward the draft UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. Japan again plans to express its concern about the lack of Working Group discussion, but will vote in favor of the declaration with three "interpretations." 1. The right to self-determination does not mean the right to independence or to separate from a sovereign state. 2. "Collective rights" means the members of a group possess rights, not the group itself. 3. Rights of property and ownership are bound by the laws of each State. Although Japan has already made its decision, Kimura agreed to pass on our request that Japan reconsider its position to all the participants in the decision-making process. SCHIEFFER