Article 12 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.” Article 17 of the ICCPR reiterates that guarantee. The right to privacy and confidentiality enshrined in these instruments applies equally to asylum seekers and refugees. Accordingly, State signatories to these instruments must refrain from sharing information with the authorities of an asylum seeker’s country of origin or even informing those authorities that a claim has been made. That is the case regardless of whether the country of origin is a so-called “safe country”. Whilst the general rule against sharing information may be justifiably breached in exceptional circumstances, such as combating terrorism, it was clear at the Tokyo District Court hearing that this was not the situation in the July 2004 mission to Turkey. Clearly, the actions of the Japanese authorities in relation to the July 2004 MoJ delegation visit to Turkey were against both the letter and spirit of international law instruments to which Japan is a signatory.