Japanese Unification Church Member Missing
Written by Mary
Soon Ae Henkin
Tuesday, 30 April 2013 19:33
On April 27
“T.I.” (whose name is protected for privacy) was
apparently abducted against his will. He had three cell phones, an
unusually high number for a college student, even in technology-rich
Japan. One was for everyday use, one was a back-up phone, and one’s
specific purpose was its GPS locator. T.I. knew about cases involving
parents kidnapping their adult child to reverse their decision to
join the Unification Church. He was prepared for this possibility.
A
senior in the College of Science and Engineering at Kanazawa
University, 21-year-old T.I. is an adult under Japanese law, which
guarantees his right to religious freedom, including the right to
adopt a religion which is different from one’s family of
origin. T.I. joined the Unification Church’s Collegiate
Association for the Research of Principles (CARP) in April, 2011. He
then moved into a CARP dormitory that summer.
T.I. informed
his family about his affiliation with CARP in June, 2012. His mother
reportedly became distraught and asked him to leave the dormitory as
soon as possible. His father also opposed to his choice of religion,
but did not pressure him about it. While T.I. continued living in the
CARP dormitory, he maintained regular communication with his family
and informed them that he had received a solid job offer from a
non-church company to employ him after his graduation.
Unification
Church member Mr. S. lives in the same neighborhood as T.I.’s
family. When T.I. visited home last New Year’s Day, he asked
Mr. S. for help in case T.I.’s parents were to kidnap him.
The
plan proved necessary when T.I. visited home on April 27th to
celebrate his younger brother’s acceptance to a university.
Around 2 p.m. Mr. S. received an email from the GPS locator-equipped
cell phone. “The buzzer was pushed! Please contact,” was
all it read—a pre-arranged signal for trouble.
The GPS
locator showed that the email was sent from T.I.’s parents’
house. However, a CARP staff member’s immediate phone call to
the house went unanswered. Mr. S. visited the house that evening to
find it empty.
Families and ‘’deprogrammers’’
abducting adults because of their religious belief is a common
occurrence in Japan. Forced de-conversion in Japan was highlighted as
a "thematic-issue" in the April U.S. Commission on
International Religious Freedom Annual Report. Police tend to stay
out of the cases, believing them to be a family matter. A current
civil court case involving Mr. Toru Goto, who was allegedly held
against his will by his family for 12 years in a small apartment, is
being closely watched by the international human rights community.
Prosecutors refused to press criminal charges in the case despite Mr.
Goto’s appeals that his civil rights and personal liberty had
been violated
http://www.religiousfreedom.com/