Deaf Japanese lawyer elected to U.N. panel on rights of people with disabilities

From Kyodo

June 12 2024

NEW YORK – Hiroshi Tamon, a deaf Japanese civil rights lawyer, was elected Tuesday to serve as an independent expert on the U.N. Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

“I’m feeling very happy that I won, however burdened with this very large undertaking,” Tamon, 57, told Kyodo News after the vote through a sign language interpreter.

Tamon is one of nine experts newly elected to serve on the 18-member committee for a term of four years starting in January 2025.

Besides Tamon, experts nominated by Brazil, the Dominican Republic, the European Union, Jamaica, Mongolia, Morocco, Nigeria and Uruguay were also elected.

The panel meets in Geneva to monitor the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that has been signed by 180 U.N. members including Japan.

“I want to start dialogues and keep those dialogues open,” Tamon said. “And with those dialogues, I would like to also connect to each country’s organization for people with disabilities.”

Tamon, who was born in Fukushima and works at a law firm in Tokyo, has been deaf since birth.

He said he was inspired to seek the position after his experience during the massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan in March 2011.

Noting that during the disaster his friends with disabilities in the northeastern Japan city faced difficulties accessing information about where to evacuate or shelter, Tamon said he wanted to encourage countries to adopt international best practices for disaster preparedness.