The 76-page report, “‘They Don’t Treat Us like Human Beings’: Abuse of Imprisoned Women in Japan,” documents the abusive conditions in many women’s prisons in Japan. Government policies towards women in prison violate international human rights conventions and contravene international standards such as the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules of the Treatment of Prisoners, known as the Mandela Rules. Prison authorities use restraints on imprisoned pregnant women, arbitrarily employ solitary confinement as a form of punishment, verbally abuse women in prison, deny incarcerated women’s opportunities to parent their child in prison, and fail to provide adequate access to health and mental health care.
The 101-page report, “Japan’s ‘Hostage Justice’ System,” documents the abusive treatment of criminal suspects in pretrial detention. The authorities strip suspects of their right to remain silent, question them without a lawyer, coerce them to confess through repeated arrests and denial of bail, and detain them for prolonged periods under constant surveillance in police stations. The Japanese government should urgently undertake wide-ranging reforms, including amending the criminal procedure code, to ensure detainees their fair trial rights and make investigators and prosecutors more accountable.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with representatives of LGBTQ groups Friday and offered an apology over discriminatory remarks made by his former aide that sparked nationwide outrage and calls for the government to ensure equal rights. Former Kishida aide Masayoshi Arai’s comments to reporters earlier this month that he wouldn’t want to live next…
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has met with LGBTQ representatives and offered an apology over his former aide’s discriminatory remarks, which sparked nationwide outrage and calls for the government to ensure equal rights
Japan's prime minister apologized to the LGBTQ community for remarks made by a former aide. The aide made a remark that he would not want to live next to an LGBTQ person.