Tag - rights

 
 

RIGHTS

COMMENTARY / World
Jul 17, 2013
Can Snowden cite rights and still applaud Putin?
It's easy to admire Edward Snowden for what he has revealed about U.S. and U.K. spying, and still feel deeply uncomfortable about his praise for Russia, of all places.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 14, 2013
Passage of strict abortion bill highlights Democrats' uphill fight in Texas
The politically charged battle over whether to restrict abortions in Texas ended late Friday night when the state Senate passed legislation and sent it on to Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, for his signature. In the end, the fight underscored the challenges Democrats face as they look to break the Republicans'...
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 8, 2013
Repression surges in Putin's Russia
Last week was a busy one for Russian authorities, who arrested the only nationally known opposition mayor for bribery, sought six years in prison for crusading blogger Alexei Navalny and asked a court to find a long-dead attorney guilty of tax evasion.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 30, 2013
Constitutional revision: Proposed Abe-rights look to be all wrong
After the Upper House elections on July 21, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may try to revise the Constitution. This longstanding agenda is now within reach because the Liberal Democratic Party he heads might be able to rally the necessary two-thirds of votes in both chambers of the Diet.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 27, 2013
Saudi Arabia backsliding on women's rights
The trumped-up case in which two leading Saudi activists for women's rights were sentenced to prison is a symptom of the kingdom's regression on human rights.
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Jun 5, 2013
China constitution debate hits nerve with ruling party
After a country's new leader proclaims the overriding authority of the constitution — a document that guarantees freedom of speech and press — it's worth noting afterward when the same government heavily censors all discussion about that constitution.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
May 15, 2013
Chinese prostitutes 'routinely extorted, abused'
Police raids on brothels in China have a pattern, sex workers say, often occurring a few days ahead of politically sensitive events or whenever someone in government orders an antipornography campaign to please the leadership.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 21, 2013
Saving Japan: promoting women's role in the workforce would help
Christine Lagarde, director of the International Monetary Fund, believes women can save Japan. Some would argue they already are, taking on as they do all sorts of responsibilities ranging from mother, wife and caregiver for elderly relatives to employee, volunteer and household finance minister.
EDITORIALS
Apr 21, 2013
Monitoring workers by smartphone
Employers' ability to monitor employees' actions and whereabouts via smartphones fitted with GPS apps is not a positive step in Japanese workplaces.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Apr 19, 2013
Blood tests on drunk drivers limited
Police officers generally must try to get a warrant before forcing uncooperative drunken driving suspects to submit to a blood test, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 9, 2013
Japan's foreign trainee system said still plagued by rights abuses
Last month, a Chinese trainee went on a stabbing rampage at a Hiroshima Prefecture seafood company where he worked, killing the president and an employee and wounding six others.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Apr 6, 2013
PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk: making the fury fly
My favorite story about Ingrid Newkirk, the founder and head of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), the animal-rights organization, involves her storming the dining room of the Four Seasons hotel in New York, depositing a dead raccoon on Anna Wintour's dinner plate and calling the veteran...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 4, 2013
Supreme Court has been no friend of freedom
The mythology of a heroic Supreme Court makes Americans forget that, for the most part, they've secured their status as a free people outside the courts.
EDITORIALS
Mar 30, 2013
ID system raises thorny issues
There are problems with the Abe administration's bill to launch the 'my number' system, which would integrate personal data onto a single ID card.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 28, 2013
Myanmar's 'cronies' face spate of criticism
A new English word has entered the colloquial language in Myanmar, a word that could not even be uttered in public until recently. The word is "crony," and it describes the business elite who exploited their closeness to the country's military rulers to amass vast wealth in the past two decades.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 22, 2013
Chinese rights genie at work
While criticism of China's human rights record clearly has merit, it is important not to lose sight of the genuine democratic change happening there.

Longform

An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow it