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On January 27, 2009, the United Nations Committee on NGOs in New York approved IMADR’s request to the UN for reclassification from “roster” to “special consultative status.” The “special status” for IMADR will be officially conferred by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in July 2009. The special consultative status will allow IMADR to expand its activities at the UN, for instance, circulating statements at meetings of ECOSOC and its subsidiary bodies.

We invite concerned NGOs and individuals around the world to share their experiences and compile together a document on global exploitative migration.

Forty-four years ago, Kazuo Ishikawa, a man of Buraku origin (a caste-like Japanese minority), was falsely imprisoned for the murder of a schoolgirl. We ask for your help in calling on the Tokyo High Court to deliver justice by granting a retrial of the case. Visit the Sayama Case website to learn about the Sayama Case and Buraku discrimination in Japan.

Last year, the Yoko Tada Foundation for Human Rights awarded Kazuo Ishikawa the 18th Tada Human Rights Prize for his work in the fighting the miscarriage of justice. “We have great respect for Mr. Ishikawa in his 43-year battle,” the award committee said, “We want to show our solidarity with him, in hopes that he will win his third appeal for the retrial and reinvestigation of the Sayama Case and that the false charges against him are dropped.”

To date, over one million people have shown their support for Ishikawa by signing the Sayama Case petition. Please join them! Sign the petition here (external link).