Japanese minister slammed for human rights comments

“No matter how nutritious it is, if one ate only butter every single day, one would get metabolic syndrome,” Education Minister Bunmei Ibuki reportedly said at a speech in south Japan on Sunday. “Human rights are important, but if we respect them too much, Japanese society will end up having human rights metabolic syndrome.”

The offending remarks “ignore the human rights of citizens,” Amnesty International said in a letter sent Tuesday to Ibuki and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The group demanded Ibuki retract his remarks.

Ibuki’s reported comments follow a series of gaffes by senior members of Abe’s government. Last month, Health Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa infuriated the public by calling women “birth-giving machines” who have to “do their best per head” to stem Japan’s falling birthrate.

A senior ruling party official also recently raised eyebrows by criticizing China’s rise in military spending and warning Japan could become a Chinese province.

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