Japanized

The Opinion rendered with regard to the Tokyo Two concludes that the Japanese authorities have breached articles 18, 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and articles 18 and 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). It also expresses concern that articles 2, 10 and 14 of the ICCPR, relating to the presumption of innocence and the right to a fair trial, are not being respected.

Established in 1991, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is a UN-mandated body - residing under the Human Rights Council in Geneva - that investigates cases of alleged arbitrary arrest and detention that may be in violation of international human rights law. The Working Group is made up of respected human rights experts from Senegal, the Russian Federation, Pakistan, Chile and Norway, who are chosen for their expertise in legal matters and for their independence.

Any concerned individual or group can request an investigation. This party is subsequently referred to as the 'source'. The 'source' for the complaint about the treatment of Greenpeace activists Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki was Amnesty International, who submitted the case for investigation in March 2009.

Following six months of inquiry, Opinion No. 9/2009 (Japan), was adopted by the Working Group on 1 September 2009. In accordance with the established methods of the Working Group, the Opinion was first communicated to the government of Japan, in order to give it the chance to respond, and subsequently passed to Amnesty International on 12 January, 2010. The opinion is available to the public and will also be included in as an Annex to the Working Group's next annual report to the Human Rights Council, in March 2010.

The government limited its response to explaining Japan's criminal justice system and claiming, without substantive explanation, that the 'source' was factually incorrect. The Working Group did not concur. The findings of the Working Group fall into category II - which is defined as 'When the deprivation of liberty results from the exercise of the rights or freedoms guaranteed by articles 7, 13, 14, 18, 19, 10 and 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and, insofar as States parties are concerned, by articles 12, 18, 19, 21, 22, 25, 26 and 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights'.

The Opinion rendered with regard to the Tokyo Two concluded that the Japanese authorities had breached articles 18, 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and articles 18 and 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). It also expressed concern that articles 2, 10 and 14 of the ICCPR, relating to the presumption of innocence and the right to a fair trial, were not being respected.

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The Sanwa PrePeat uses plastic-based thermal paper that can be written to, erased and written to over and over again.

It's a great idea on the most basic level of saving paper, but who would actually use it in place of a regular printer? Hmm...

via diginfo.tv

While Nokia and Sony Ericsson are streets ahead of the likes of Apple and Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are the bad boys on the environmentally aware block.

The Greenpeace report even goes so far as to single out the Nintendo DSi as a nasty piece of work. Check it out for yourself (in Japanese) at the link below.

via greenpeace.or.jp

The Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) seems to think virtual idol Hatsune Miku singing a paean to the joys of recycling old phones will make a difference. At least they're trying....

The fact, however, that the anime is made up of art submitted by eight competition winners might just stir up interest a little.

via temple-knights.com [Japanese]

Sanyo is working with Mitsui and others to equip cargo transporters with enough 'clean' energy options so they don't need to use diesel engines in harbor.

So far, it's just a test system, but the idea of using solar panels to charge up li-ion batteries while at sea is pretty compelling.

via sanyo.com

[Or is it 'Big Sight' -- I've seen both versions multiple times and prefer the more logical 'Site.']