Anti-piracy pretext must not justify sending SDF abroad

Japan Press Weekly

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Anti-piracy pretext must not justify sending SDF abroad
Akahata editorial

The government on March 13 decided to send Self-Defense Force vessels on "anti-piracy" missions in waters off Somalia under the existing law. It also approved the draft of a bill to allow the SDF to use weapons as part of the anti-piracy operations.

It has sent the SDF as a fait accompli without any serious discussion, the aim being to pave the way for more SDF missions abroad, ostensibly as part of anti-piracy missions, in response to U.S. requests.

The government invoked the SDF Law's Article 82, which provides for maritime police activities, to send Maritime Self-Defense Force ships to waters off Somalia. However, this is a distorted application of the law in the light of the government's stated position that the purpose of the Self-Defense Forces is to "deal with outside armed attacks." This was how then Security Agency Director General Kimura Tokutaro explained the SDF in the Diet in 1954. This is why the application of Article 82 is limited to waters near Japan. No one can deny that it is applicable to activities throughout the world.

The present law does not allow the SDF, which is not authorized to exercise police powers, to use force of arms against pirates.

What is worse, the "anti-piracy" bill, which is being discussed in the Diet, is unconstitutional since it allows the SDF to use weapons for the purpose of protecting foreign vessels.

The new law, if enacted, will allow the SDF to fire at pirate boats that come noticeably close to ships, follow, or obstruct the passage of ships.

If the MSDF off Somalia kill or injure people of other countries for any reason, it runs counter to the Japanese Constitution that renounces war and prohibits the possession of military forces.

Sending the MSDF to the seas off Somalia was proposed by the Democratic Party of Japan in the Diet on October 17, 2008. Prime Minister Aso Taro saw this as a golden opportunity. The present anti-piracy bill is a product jointly developed by the government and the opposition DPJ. This shows that the DPJ position is no different from the government policy in calling for a global Japan-U.S. military alliance. The two alike are trying to win U.S. favor.

In order to foil the dangerous attempts to adversely revise the Constitution and to enact a permanent law for sending the SDF abroad, it is essential to oppose military operations of the SDF off Somalia and to get the anti-piracy bill rejected in the Diet.

- Akahata, March 16, 2009