15 rights organizations sent a joint letter on Sunday to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on her government’s proposed anti-espionage law and foreign agents registration act.

The organizations caution the government to ensure the laws are consistent with legal obligations, writing:

While we recognize that protecting national security and tackling the unlawful influence of money in politics are important to promote and protect the country’s democratic institutions, your government should adopt a rights-respecting approach. This means ensuring that any measures that may restrict human rights…comply with the principles of legality, necessity, and proportionality. It is also crucial that any restrictions are non-discriminatory and monitored by an independent body to identify and prevent any harm.

The letter focuses on fundamental rights guaranteed under the Japanese Constitution, including rights of freedom of thought and conscience, and freedom of assembly, association, speech, and press. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) imposes similar rights obligations.

Additionally, under the ICCPR, the principle of legality provides that for a law to be valid, it must be “sufficiently clear so that an average person can reasonably foresee the consequences of their actions and in particular when they may be in violation of the law.” This means ensuring that “national security” is interpreted in line with international law, and that restrictions are not based on vague terms like “political activity” or “espionage.”

The organizations also recommend a general ‘public interest’ clause to protect whistleblowers, journalists, academics, activists, and others who collect and disclose information in the public interest. This clause would show responsiveness to UN Human Rights Committee recommendations to prevent capturing these actors under national security laws. Similarly, UN special rapporteurs have warned that foreign agents registration acts, when drafted too broadly, can prevent civil society organizations from receiving funding from foreign sources.

The suggestion for an independent oversight body would bring the laws in alignment with the Tshwane Principles, which were drafted in consultation with more than 500 experts to provide guidance on ‘best practices’ for national security legislation.

Takaichi’s government seeks these changes following a set of recommendations drafted by the Liberal Democratic Party’s intelligence strategy headquarters. The government proposes establishing a National Intelligence Agency and drafting the desired laws this summer with an expert panel. The anticipated mandatory registration system for foreign agents will drawn on existing American and British frameworks.

Takaichi defends the laws and insists they will not “increase the risk of political exploitation,” stating:

By making decisions based on higher-quality and timely information, we will strengthen our efforts to prevent crises before they occur and to strategically protect the safety of our citizens and our national interests….We will not unnecessarily infringe on the privacy of the people.

Similar laws have been passed by other governments and criticized by rights groups, including Georgia, and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The letter was coordinated by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International Japan, and Green Peace Japan and co-signed by 12 other organizations. Japanese lawyers have separately raised their concerns.