Ministry of Foreign Relations of Japan: more on Fujimori
Mr. Taniguchi: The second item is about former President of the Republic of Peru Alberto Fujimori’s detention in the Republic of Chile. With regard to former President of Peru Alberto Fujimori’s departure from Japan and detention following his entry into Chile, I would like to explain the position of the Government of Japan and the measures we are taking.
This case is already undergoing judicial proceedings in Chile, and the basic position of the Government of Japan is to watch the progress of the proceedings. Concurrently, in light of the fact that former President Fujimori holds Japanese nationality, we will take the necessary and possible measures that would generally be taken when a Japanese national is detained overseas.
As for specific measures the Government of Japan has taken to date, on 7 November (Chile time), the Japanese Ambassador to Chile Hajime Ogawa informed Minister of Foreign Affairs Ignacio Walker of Chile that former President Fujimori holds Japanese nationality, and inquired about the facts regarding allegations of and charges for the detention, among other matters, and emphasized the importance of securing due process.
On 9 November (Chile time), the Japanese Embassy in Chile had a consular visit to Mr. Fujimori. The counselor and two secretaries of the embassy visited Mr. Fujimori at the place where he is detained and confirmed that he is in good health condition and is satisfied with the treatment, including his meals.
Even if there are some opinions from those who believe that the Government of Japan intervened improperly in the judicial proceedings, the Government of Japan is in contact with the Government of Chile according to the consular functions which are stipulated in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and do not have any political intentions nor intentions to intervene in the judicial proceedings between Peru and Chile.
Q: Chile has canceled Foreign Minister Ignacio Walker’s planned visit to Japan this week, and President Ricardo Lagos complained that the Japanese government failed to inform them about Alberto Fujimori’s departure for Chile. May I know what the Japanese government thinks about the Fujimori issue and how to react to President Ricardo’s complaint?
Mr. Taniguchi: You may think as a technology-savvy nation that Japan would be able to detect the whereabouts of someone like Mr. Fujimori. If it had done that it would have been committing a terrible abuse in terms of human rights. The truth of the matter is that the Japanese government could not detect that Mr. Fujimori was leaving Japan, not to mention where he was headed.