U.S. officials meet Diet members over 'loophole' in Japan's child pornography law

The Mainichi Shimbun
June 11, 2007
Source: http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070611p2a00m0na001000c.html

U.S. government officials have met Japanese Diet members requesting revisions to Japan's law against child prostitution and child pornography to make mere possession of child pornography a crime, the Mainichi has learned.

The move by U.S. officials comes as damage caused by child pornography, which is crossing borders with the continuing spread of the Internet, emerges as a serious problem. It is the first time that the U.S. government has asked Japan to tighten penalties in connection with the problem of child pornography.

Japan's Law for Punishing Acts Related to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and for Protecting Children imposes penalties for the possession of child pornography for the purpose of selling or supplying it, but so-called "mere possession," is not considered a crime. The fact that the law does not ban the possession of child pornography for personal collections is a major contributing factor in its distribution over the Internet.

Sources said that senior U.S. government officials met with Foreign Ministry executives and other Japanese government officials, along with influential lawmakers from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party between April and May. U.S. government officials said "hundreds" of Japanese names were included in image purchase records in child pornography cases that have been uncovered by U.S. investigative authorities.

U.S. government officials explained that current laws in Japan which do not ban mere possession of child pornography are creating a market for such material. Sources said that U.S. government officials encouraged implementation of a ban on mere possession of child pornography, similar to that enforced in the United States, during debate on revisions to Japan's law against child prostitution and child pornography, which is expected as early as the period after the House of Councillors election.

Currently Japan and Russia are the only counties among the G-8 members where mere possession of child pornography is legal.

The U.S. government has also urged Japanese ruling coalition lawmakers to make it compulsory for Internet providers to file reports to related organizations if they become aware of child pornography on the Internet -- a practice that has been adopted in the United States.

In many cases the victims of child abuse are under 3 years old, U.S. government officials pointed out. U.S. lawmakers are moving to strengthen countermeasures against child pornography, pointing out that thousands of American children are victimized each year through pornography.

In an interview with the Mainichi, U.S. government officials said there was a "huge contradiction" in Japan, where it is illegal to sell child pornography, but it is legal to buy it.

"This legal loophole creates a massive demand for these images," an official said.

In discussion in the Diet, calls have arisen for mere possession of child pornography to be banned, but such moves have been postponed over fears that this will lead to the abuse of authorities' investigative powers. (Mainichi)

June 11, 2007