The Justice Ministry has compiled a draft of the government's basic human rights plan, calling for special efforts to protect the rights of vulnerable groups in Japan.

The draft, drawn up in line with a law enacted in 2000 to promote education and raise human rights awareness, highlights the need to involve the central and local governments, private companies and citizens' groups in tackling human rights issues.

Among the groups highlighted as vulnerable and requiring special treatment are women, foreigners, children, crime victims, the disabled, patients with Hansen's disease and descendants of former social outcasts.

The paper also emphasizes the need to increase human rights education at schools and other public facilities to eradicate lingering discrimination in Japan based on social status, gender and physical and mental disabilities.

The government plans to release the preliminary draft and finalize it after hearing public views on the issue. The finalized plan will be adopted by March.

The paper proposes giving a wider role to some 14,000 human rights protection commissioners nationwide.

Commissioners, typically retirees, are appointed by the Justice Ministry based on recommendations from municipalities and work without pay. According to critics, however, their activities are almost invisible.

In a related development, a government panel revising the commissioner system has drafted a report calling for the present law on human rights commissioners to be changed to allow foreigners to be appointed as commissioners.

However, it is uncertain whether the proposal will lead to an amendment of the law, as some human rights panelists believe foreigners should be restricted from becoming commissioners and should serve only as advisers, according to panel sources.

The advisory council on protection and promotion of human rights will finalize details of the report before submitting it to Justice Minister Mayumi Moriyama before the end of this month, panel sources said.