JCP chair urges government to give up new war law

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on October 2 demanded that the
government give up a new law that allows the Self-Defense Forces to be sent
abroad to take part in a U.S. retaliatory war. He said the government should
play its part to bring suspects of the September 11 terrorist attacks to
justice without the use of force.

Shii was questioning the government in the House of Representatives
plenary session on behalf of the JCP.

He pointed out that the task now is for the international community to
look for lawful, reasonable, and truly effective ways to eliminate
terrorism.

He cited a joint statement of five U.N. bodies pointing out that more
than 5 million Afghan people, particularly women and children, need
emergency humanitarian aid to survive. They are on the verge of starving due
to the closure of the borders preventing food aid from international
organizations reaching them, he said.

Shii said, "An armed attack on Afghanistan will produce countless more
deaths."

To Shii's question if he is of the opinion that innocent citizens need to
be sacrificed to end terrorism, the prime minister avoided giving a
forthright answer and just said, "Use of force isn't the only way to combat
terrorism."

Shii said that in dealing with international terrorism, it is necessary
for the United Nations to play a major role in apprehending the terrorists
and their supporters and bringing them to justice based on the U.N. Charter
and international law. Specifically, Shii proposed the following three
points:

(1) Identification of suspects:

To accurately identify as far as possible suspects and supporters of the
terrorist crimes, based on fact and evidence.

(2) Custody of suspects

The international community (with the U.N. at the center) should make
every effort to place the suspects under the control of law and justice.

(3) U.N. Tribunal

Arrest of suspects should be followed by establishing the truth and
punishment in courts. Setting up an ad hoc international tribunal under the
U.N. should be studied.

Prime Minister Koizumi did not respond clearly to this proposal. He just
said close liaison would be kept with the U.S. (end)