Rev. In Jin Moon Carries Freedom Message to Capitol Hill Briefing

The issue of violent abductions of Unificationists in Japan finally got exposure to lawmakers and congressional staff at a briefing in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, August 1, 2012.

Rev. In Jin Moon, president of the Unification Church USA, U.S. Congressman Danny Davis of Chicago, and a distinguished panel of human-rights experts called for the U.S. State Department to commence talks with the government of Japan on the issue of religious persecution of minority religions in Japan.

"The things that are taking place in Japan are an egregious violation of human rights that needs to be stopped – one cannot put rape, physical abuse, mental torture, and emotional manipulation as simply a family matter," Rev. Moon told the 70 persons gathered in a room in the House Visitors' Center. "This is not just a family matter [as claimed by Japanese authorities]."

"The things that are taking place in Japan are an egregious violation of human rights that needs to be stopped - one cannot put rape, physical abuse, mental torture, and emotional manipulation as simply a family matter," said Rev. In Jin Moon.

The Capitol Hill Lunch briefing, titled "America's Response to Religious Persecution in Allied Nations," was organized by the Universal Peace Federation (UPF).

The three religious-freedom activists at the briefing included Dr. Aaron Rhodes, former director of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights and founder and principle investigator of the Freedom Rights Project, Tina Ramirez, veteran Capitol Hill specialist in religious freedom, and Kathryn Cameron Porter, president and founder of the Leadership Council for Human Rights and a catalyst for the creation of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. Much of their speeches have been transcribed below.

Unificationist attendees consisted of representatives from American Clergy Leadership Conference (ACLC), including Chairman Rev. Michael Jenkins, Bishop George Augustus Stallings and Rev. Jesse Edwards, through whose invitation key state department representatives were able to meet Rev. In Jin Moon; representatives from Women's Federation for World Peace (WFWP), including President Angelika Selle; representatives from the Washington Times; Dan Fefferman, president of the International Coalition for Religious Freedom and Ray Mas, both of whom worked to invite religious-freedom specialists to the briefing; Japanese Unificationists included faith-breaking survivor Kiyomi Miyama, who was invited to the United States from Japan to report her two ordeals at the hands of abductors, Ichiko Sudo, a radio talk-show host and representative of Survivors Against Forced Exit (SAFE) who translated for Miyama, Luke Higuchi, president of SAFE, college student Hanayo Ito, who is visiting the States to talk about her experience with persecution on campus; and Victoria Roomet, president of the Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles (CARP).

Miyama offered the following statement, translated by Sudo: "I'm very pleased and happy that I've had the opportunity to speak with congressmen and aids all of today and all of yesterday. In Japan the police are turning a complete blind eye. We need the United States to come help Japan and as like a second, MacArthur, to open the way to an understanding about religious freeom and human rights in Japan. Thank you very much."

Jim Gavin, president of UPF USA, offered welcoming remarks and introduced Kathryn Porter as the mediator of the 90-minute program. He said, "Religious freedom is the cornerstone of all freedom. It allows us to be able to assemble, to speak, to have freedom of press. Because we have religious freedom, we have a foundation for all freedoms in our country.

"We'd like to all see someday, one family under God. Family supports our communities, and our communities support our nations. But if our families break down, our nations will break down. America is a strong country because we stand for freedom, faith, and family. If we begin to lose our family, we begin to lose our faith, and our country will be in trouble. And I think that this is a time when all of us are looking at our future. Where are we today, and where are we going to be tomorrow? When you hear from our speakers here today, you are going to understand they are all great activists. They're all warriors in countries all around the world for the sake of freedom, and religious freedom in particular."

Mr. Gavin introduced Rev. In Jin Moon, president of the Unification Church USA and gave some background on her leadership role in the cause of religious freedom for four years. He said: "Ever since meeting Mr. Toru Goto, a Unificationist who was kidnapped and kept confined for 12-and- a half years, she has championed the cause of religious freedom and has lectured at conferences around the world. Together with members of the American Clergy Leadership Conference, the Womens' Federation for World Peace, and the Universal Peace Federation, she visited Capitol Hill countless times in 2010 to raise awareness about faith-breaking in Japan. When she first heard aout the issue, she went to Japan and started talking to the victims, and she heard how people were being physically kidnapped, how some people were being thrown into cars, and how some young women were being abused, being raped, and it broke her heart. She felt she had to do something to stop this, and I know she won't stop until there is a total victory."

Congressman Daniel K. Davis, who had recently traveled to Japan with Kathryn Porter to speak out against religious intolerance there, stopped by the briefing room to offer remarks on the topic of human rights as well. "We are in a world that so often loves but so often practices hate. I think that my rights end where the next person's rights begin. If I can't exercise what I believe, then I'm kidding myself."

Dr. Aaron Rhodes' Remarks

"I've been involved in human rights for about 20 years now, and I do believe, based on past experiences, that it is right for the United States government to place the emphasis that it has upon the freedom of religion as one of the most important of human rights. It's politically incorrect to state that any human right is more important than any other human right, but I personally feel that the freedom rights are the most important ones.

"Now, why is it that the United States government is so concerned about religious freedom? Why is it that people are so concerned with religious freedom? I have lived abroad for the past 20 years and have heard criticizing comments around that question in an international forum.

"Is it something to be explained by politics? Is it some sort of sentimental attachment to past persecutions? Is it something about the feelings or beliefs about the particular groups? Well, I say 'no' to all these explanations. The freedom of religion is a universal, spiritual, political, and social necessity. It is just as important to every person on earth as it is to Americans. In this sense, this is no American exception – which I believe is a very misleading term, by the way; it's kind of like the term 'the chosen people,' which is also a very misleading term. Instead, there is a unique American appreciation of the universal aspiration to religious freedom, and the universal obligation to respect this freedom.

"The picture regarding religious freedom today is not all that good, and human rights in the world aren't improving. We have to keep struggling all the time to maintain the freedoms that we have and to prevent backsliding. The struggle to protect the freedom of religion is perpetual. We are not moving towards an era of freedom and openness. This is shown by developed democracies infringing on the freedom of human rights and the freedom of expression.

"And that's why the topic of this meeting is quite timely. Let me give you some examples. It's not just the new religions that are at risk. In Germany, where I live, a state court in Cologne recently ruled that circumcision constitutes bodily harm. German politicians have called circumcision a barbaric ritual. 40 percent of Germans apparently agree that the state should make such decisions in paternalistic fashion. In fact, infringements on religious groups are generally justified by the need of the state to protect the citizens from themselves.

[In addition,] Japan is a liberal democracy with a very strong constitutional tradition based on the one in this country. Japan is violating the human rights of members of religious minorities who have been subjected to abduction, to the deprivation of freedom and physical abuse. And this has been going on for decades. It has affected thousands of people and it has been ignored by the major human rights organizations, international authorities and of course, Japanese authorities. I've had the opportunity to do some research on this question along with the independent NGO, Human Rights Without Frontiers, and I've had an opportunity to meet with a number of victims of these abuses. I've been involved in human rights for about 20 years, and I've seen just about everything there is to see. And this is bad. This is a very tragic situation, and we have to do something about it. The victims of these abuses should not have to speak for themselves. They should have the support of civil society and international organizations, because if they speak for themselves, no one will believe them, even if they are telling the truth. That's the purpose of these independent organizations; they don't have a personal stake in these things. That's how important it is for civil society to be politically detached and to approach human rights in a scientific, objective manner.

"All the complaints about these kidnappings have been ignored. Not a single one has been taken up in a normal prosecution. It's discrimination, and there's also discrimination against members of religious minorities in universities. The police have been negligent. The politicians do not exercise adequate oversight of these institutions in Japan. [The Japanese people] need the help of their friends in the international community to solve this problem.

"That's one of the messages that I'm trying to convey here in Washington – the United States government should raise this question with the Japanese authorities as a matter of international law. They should raise it in the universal periodic review of Japan, which is going to take place in a few months. They should raise it in direct communication with Japanese authorities. They should also have other countries raise it. It shouldn't just be the United States. It should be other countries that are concerned with religious freedom, that are willing to speak to a friend about their problems. We owe it. We as Americans owe it to our friends in Japan to help them get out of this problem. That's the way the human-rights community should work.

"Freedom of expression is under threat in a number of countries, and when you talk about freedom of religion, you have to talk about the freedom of expression also. Hate-speech legislation is very often abused to discriminate against groups in society. The toxic combination of hate-speech laws, political correctness, and judicial activism, is putting the freedom of expression under very serious threat, especially in Europe.

"Let me just tell you very briefly about a case in Sweden. Very few people have heard of it, but it's absolutely outrageous. The European Court of Human Rights, which was instituted to protect European citizens from tyranny, to protect their freedom of expression, has ruled that it will not violate the freedom of expression by convicting four people for distributing leaflets with what they called 'homophobic' content. Now by the way, I don't agree with the content [of the leaflets], I don't agree with the motivation, I don't agree with anything about it. The leaflets say that homosexuality is a deviant sexual proclivity. The court said the statement slandered a specific group. The ruling was based on a prior case-law on blasphemy and hate-speech. The court refused to protect speech that they said was 'gratuitously offensive.' It decided it has the right to change the moral outlook of some citizens, or to force their conscience on issues like homosexuality. And I don't believe the state does have that right. I think this is against human rights. Here you have the European Court of Human Rights essentially violating human rights. Now, what? Where are we going to appeal that decision? Because that's the top. And that's our dilemma now, and that's why there's got to be a public protest against this. It's like the Skokie case. We're not in favor of Nazis, but we insist on their right to express their wrong views. By the way, I might as well tell you, I'm against legislation that bans Holocaust denial. People have a right to be wrong about this. And when you have people being put in jail for their errors, that's kind of totalitarianism.

"In the final analysis, religious freedom cannot be separated from the issue of freedom of expression. But we have to recognize that there is a strong trend towards restricting free speech in Europe, and among many members of the UN.

"In the context of the weakening support of the freedom of expression, the International Human Rights Law itself contains the seeds of repression by prohibiting forms of speech. The source of these articles in the covenant on civil and political rights is the Soviet Union. Go back and find out, how did we get these laws? How did we get these articles in the ICCPR [International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights]? The Soviet Union and its allies insisted to ban incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence. We can buy into banning incitement to violence. Violence is something objective. You can measure it. But you can't define the incitement to hostility. These vague laws are the bane of human rights all over the world, but this ICCPR is something that almost every country in the world has signed, even though it is still used to suppress minorities. Its vague wording was opposed by Eleanor Roosevelt, by diplomats from the United States and by democratic countries, but they lost the fight when they codified human rights in the ICCPR. I would say the problem of freedom of religion is part of a broader problem, and that is the loss of the focus on liberty in human rights. The heart of human rights is liberty. Thank you."

Rev. In Jin Moon's Remarks

"I feel so honored to be here at this congressional briefing, with such an illustrious gathering of panelists. They have truly been the pioneers and warriors in the fight for human rights. I feel as if I'm just a neophyte, following in their footsteps. But as a member of the Unification Church, and as a woman in this modern-day era, when I heard the atrocities and the persecution, the unspeakable abuses that are taking place in Japan, I could not sleep. And I resolved myself to commit to this faith-breaking issue at hand, and try my best to raise the awareness of what is taking place in Japan to our brothers and sisters.

"Ms. [Kiyomi] Miyama is just one of 4,300 brothers and sisters of our faith who have been subjected to this kind of abuse for the last three decades in Japan.

"The '70's and '80's, during which I was called a 'Moonie' and 'Chink' and told to go back home, and all of these wonderful things, which I know helped me become a better person, was a very painful time for the members of our faith. And I think the overriding fear of what the Unification Church is all about, what is this man, from the very strange and poor country of Korea, proclaiming himself as the messiah, and instead of really trying to investigate, to open up our minds, to see what the man had to say, I think there was a lot of fear of his 'power' that he exercised over the brothers and sisters in the American faith.

"A lot of unspeakable crimes have been committed [in the United States] in the name of ignorance. But we had a constitution, and we had the support of wonderful Christian ministers who were able to participate, to utilize the due process of law that finally gave us the opportunity to exercise our faith as citizens of the great country of America. But in Japan, our brothers and sisters are still suffering from these unspeakable crimes.

"I was asked to meet with one sister in private. And I had to meet her in this very quiet section of Seoul, Korea because she did not want to be seen. She said to me, 'Rev. Moon, I want to talk to you about something that I could not even speak to about with my husband for the past 15 years.' She began to tell me her story about being abducted.

"Some of her family members who were misled by deprogrammers were working in conjunction with the Christian ministers representing different faiths in Japan. She told me about the abuse she went through, not just the emotional and mental abuse, but also the sexual abuse she had to endure during the time that she was held. She mentioned that it was a Christian minister himself who committed the atrocities, who raped her repeatedly, wanting to help 'liberate' her from her 'zombie-like state' as a Unification Church member. She said that this experience has been so traumatic that she could not bring herself to come clean to her husband. She didn't know when she would find the strength to speak of it with her husband. But she knows that she represents only one of 4,300 men and women who have been voiceless, who have been silent, who felt like they had no faith for the last three decades in Japan.

"And as others have mentioned, Japan is one of the superpowers in the world. It is a democracy with a constitution that guarantees religious freedom to its citizens. And we have to understand that in this modern-day era, the people who are being abducted are not minors. These people are legitimate citizens in Japan, who are over the age of 21. Just recently, a 62 year-old woman was abducted by deprogrammers.

"Because there is such a fear about the teachings of Rev. Moon, or about the teachings of the Unification Church, families are driven to incarcerate their own children, their own family members, in extreme situations, like the way Mr. Toru Goto was imprisoned for 12 years and five months. I don't know if you've met Mr. Goto, but he was a student going for his architect degr

ee and a proud Unificationist. He was a man with ambition, with incredible promise, a six-foot, handsome, Japanese man weighing 160 lbs. But by the time he found himself thrown out because the faith-breakers finally decided they could not break his faith, he was half his body weight, 80 lbs, crawling for safety and for help.

"The sheer debasement of the simple human dignity that every citizen of this country should have was denied to this gentleman. And it has taken him a long time to find himself, to reclaim the last 12 years and five months of his life. But the story of Mr. Goto is an example of what our brothers and sisters have to endure: physical abuse, constant hitting, mental abuse, accusations of being stupid, that one is not human because one believes in the Unification Church. Can you imagine what that would do to you and me if we were in that situation?

"So, there is desperation of sorts in my heart. These are not just my brothers and sisters, if we really think of ourselves as a world of unity – they are our brothers and sisters. When I visited the congressional offices here at Capitol Hill, the congressmen and women asked me, 'Why are you talking to us about what is taking place in Japan? Why is this a U.S. problem?' It is a U.S. problem because a lot of our brothers and sisters are married to a Japanese spouse. We have a situation in the Unification Church where internationally married couples cannot go to Japan to visit their relatives over holiday for fear of being abducted and abused. That has caused incredible strain. And for the Japanese ambassador and the Japanese government to say that this is 'merely a family matter,' and that all the rights in the due process of law should be ignored is really quite alarming.

"Therefore, the incredible panelists that are seated before you today are an inspiration for me. My father just recently spoke about the importance of alliances, of working together, and of freedom. We need to understand that we are entering an era of alliance, that we affect each other, regardless of where we are in the world. And instead of thinking about own individual freedom, we need to start thinking about our freedom as a whole. Our power and liberty as those eternal sons and daughters of God that we all are. The things that are taking place in Japan are an egregious violation of human rights that needs to be stopped. One cannot put rape, physical abuse, mental torture, and emotional manipulation as simply a 'family matter.' This is not just a family matter. Until just recently, the abuse of women in a marital relationship in Japan was construed as a family matter. It took the pressure of the international community to come together and say, 'What is being done to these women, who are raped by their husbands, day-in and day-out, is not a family matter. It is an egregious violation of human rights that needs to be addressed by the international community.' And guess what? The international community came together, created an alliance and said, 'Enough is enough. We are not going to stand still while our sisters are abused in marital relationships.' Incredible steps have been made in that regard. If a husband feels so inclined to rape his wife, he's going to have to answer to the law. Likewise, what is taking place with our Unificationists in Japan is not a family matter. Rape and abuse is not a family matter.

"Likewise, what is taking place with our Unificationists in Japan is not a family matter. The perpetrators need to face the law; they need to experience the due process of the law that is guaranteed by the constitution in Japan. So, I urge all of you to really take this matter to heart.

"We cannot think that this is something that is taking place elsewhere that will not affect us. If we do not stand together and work together to fight against these God-given rights and fight for the very principles that really make us who we are, sons and daughters of God, then we might as well just say goodbye to our hopes of creating that incredible world of peace.

"But if we truly believe in the dignity of every human being, if we believe that a violation of human rights cannot take place in modern-day society and will not stand still, sit still, be silent, then I feel that the world of peace and love and harmony that my father so affectionately speaks about each day of his life – and he's well into his 93 years of age – can be within our grasp.

"So, thank you so much, ladies and gentlemen, for being here. Your presence really gives me great inspiration that America cares. And just the fact that Capitol Hill is listening, just the fact that they are holding this congressional briefing, when I take this news back to our brothers and sisters in Japan, I know that they will be moved to tears, that they will be inspired and they will feel more committed to go on in their fight for religious freedom. Thank you."

Tina Ramirez's Remarks

"On Monday, the day that the state department released its Religious Freedom Report, everybody wanted to know who's been named as country of particular concern in terms of violators of religious freedom. Today we will hopefully not disappoint you. We're not talking about the countries of particular concern – we're talking about democratic allies. Japan and many countries in Europe have spoken up.

"As many of you know, in the U.S. is a great debate around religious freedom and think in line with Rev. Moon's comments. Earlier Rep. Davis said, 'If I can't express myself, I'm lying to myself.' The fact is religious belief and expression gets at the core of what human beings do as individuals. It is the basis for dignity. It is the basis for freedom. Individual expression of their beliefs about life and death and life after death, in some cases, through their religion. This is then seen throughout their culture. It's absolutely impossible for it to be separate from their culture.

"However in a number of countries around the world, governments and individuals within societies, even in democratic ones, try to break people of their beliefs. Right now we see it in the U.S. Catholic conference of bishops trying to be broken of their belief that life begins at the conception, that they have conscientious objection based on their religious belief and they cannot provide abortion drugs to the people they give health care plans to. They're trying to be broken, and this is a violation of religious freedom.

"I think it's important for people to understand that there's a spectrum when it comes to religious freedom – a spectrum that occurs in Japan and in different countries in Europe. Where people can't wear religious symbols or garb, where Sikh or Muslim students actually choose to not attend school because the government has passed a law where they can't wear religious clothing or attire in those schools. So school children are denied their religious freedom rights."

Contributed by Ariana Moon, Douglas Burton, and Yoshie Manaka.