TOKYO, April 6 (Xinhua) -- A bill which proposes revising the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law to fingerprint and photograph all foreign visitors entering Japan aroused controversy when it was brought to Japan's Upper House, local media reported on Thursday.

    At a meeting of Diet members, human rights activists said the bill, which was described by backers as a necessary counter-terrorism measure, must be defeated at any cost because it is discriminatory and vague, the daily Japan Times said.

    "With no actual definition of who terrorists are, there is a danger (of people being fingered as terrorists) through arbitrary interpretation," lawyer Mitsuru Namba was quoted as saying.

    Some other critics said measures such as fingerprinting infringe on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

    The bill, which stipulates that foreigners entering Japan must provide personal identification data in electromagnetic format, cleared Japan's House of Representatives on last Thursday without much debate.

    The Japanese government put forward the bill in early March as part of its efforts to block terrorists from entering the country under false identities.

    The bill also includes a provision enabling the government to deport those judged by the justice minister to be terrorists and another provision requires planes and ships arriving in Japan to submit passenger lists before arrival. Enditem