Japan Press Weekly

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2013 September 18 - 24 [CIVIL RIGHTS]

No need for ‘secrets protection’ legislation in Japan: PEN club

The Japan P.E.N. Club on September 17 issued a statement in protest against a secrets protection bill which the Abe Cabinet is intending to submit to the extraordinary Diet session scheduled to be convened in October.

The statement points out that the bill: enables the government to designate an excessively wide range of government information as “specific secrets”; infringes on the public right to know and media’s freedom of reporting and gathering information; goes against the current trend in favor of disclosure of administrative information; and includes measures to investigate the eligibility of government employees for treating secrets, which would violate their privacy.

The P.E.N. Club statement points out, “The Abe Cabinet drafted the bill behind closed door discussions and neglected to provide the general public information regarding the necessity and the reason for enacting such legislation.”

It also argues that a secrets protection law is unnecessary for Japan.