The step came shortly after Tokyo bitterly complained to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and demanded it show evidence to support the figure that was announced in Tokyo last month.Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, the UN’s special envoy on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, wrote to the Permanent Mission of Japan to the International Organizations in Geneva to say she could not offer hard evidence to support her claim, according to a Japanese official.
“The letter said after further reviews that there was no official and recent data to support the 13-percent figure,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters.
In her letter, de Boer-Buquicchio vowed not to use the figure in the future and said the number will not be part of a report to be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council, Suga said.
“We regard this explanation as effectively a retraction of the comment over the 13-percent figure,” he added.
“The Japanese government will continue to ask them to draft reports based on objective data.”
Nekane Lavin, from the UN Office of the High Commissionner in Geneva, later issued a statement by email saying the special envoy will make no further comment until March when she submits her report.
Source and image: AFP
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