A senior Japanese diplomat and a U.N. rights expert traded barbs Monday at the U.N. Human Rights Council over a report released in May that criticized Tokyo's record on freedom of opinion and expression.

David Kaye, the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, cited "significant worrying signals" in his report, including government pressure on media and restrictions on information access justified on national security grounds.

"It is regrettable that some parts of the report are written without accurate understanding of the government's explanation and its positions," Japanese Ambassador to Geneva Junichi Ihara said in his statement to the Council.