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China-Japan-Koreas
UN pans Tokyo's 'racist' new law
2006-05-19
TOP UN race-discrimination investigator Doudou Diene has denounced a new Japanese law for compulsory fingerprinting of foreigners as evidence of a worldwide trend towards "criminalising" outsiders.
If I had a name like 'Doudou' I'd take up a more obscure line of work.
Mr Diene, the UN High Commission on Human Rights special rapporteur on racial discrimination, said yesterday that the Japanese legislation illustrated a "worrisome development" of creating laws to set foreigners apart, on the pretext of combating terrorism. These laws undermined the international agreements to curb racial discrimination and had infiltrated an "extreme Right" agenda into democratic governments.

"Especially since 9/11, there has been a process of criminalisation of foreigners, as foreigners - of asylum-seekers, migrant workers, migrants," Mr Diene said. "(The Japanese law) is an illustration of a very worrisome development of racism in the world; it is what I call the 'banalisation' of discrimination, of racism."

Mr Diene produced a report earlier this year on racial discrimination in Japan, which many Japanese deny exists in their country because of its assumed racial homogeneity. However, Mr Diene found widespread discrimination, at official and private levels, against indigenous Ainu on northern Hokkaido, Okinawans in the south, and Korean and Chinese residents. About 800,000 Koreans are the largest group among an estimated two million foreigners living in Japan.

Though the Diene report was avoided by domestic news outlets, it caused a major stir in government and non-government organisations.

The Government has yet to respond to Mr Diene's recommendations, including an official statement of recognition that racism and xenophobia exist in Japan, a national law banning race discrimination and a national anti-discrimination authority.
Filled with lots of bureauocrats.
Mr Diene said he expected Japan to respond next month at the first session of the new UN Human Rights Council, a beefed-up replacement of the UNHCR, or the following one in September.

The immigration control law passed the upper house on Wednesday. Intended to prevent terrorists arriving under false identities, it calls for foreign visitors older than 16 to be fingerprinted and photographed, and it foreshadows gathering other biometric data. The law excludes ethnic Korean residents and others with special permanent residence status.
Posted by:ryuge

#7  I can't believe the AOS broke the RB Makin Fun Of Names Hudna, sets a poor example
Posted by: 6   2006-05-19 16:17  

#6  Doudou Diène
Representative of the Senegal in the UNESCO and the General Assembly of the United Nations. Person in charge of projects of intercultural, interreligious dialogue and peace culture.

Sounds like he busts his ass everyday, don't it?
Posted by: tu3031   2006-05-19 14:45  

#5  What's next, Doudou? Colored strips of clothing by religion? Somebody should tell him to Go To Iran.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2006-05-19 10:31  

#4  When did "forigners" become a race? A little outside his brief, I'd say.
Posted by: mojo   2006-05-19 10:03  

#3  Fingerprint all the UN staffers and get DNA samples for future roundup.

BRUAHAHAHAHA!!!

Order 66!
Posted by: DarthVader   2006-05-19 09:57  

#2  Anything that stands between Nation-States and the New Transnational World Order (and its tool, the borderless ideology) is RACISM.
Posted by: anonymous5089   2006-05-19 04:41  

#1  Finger prints are racist? Who knew?

What a tool.
Posted by: SPoD   2006-05-19 04:32  

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