Japan Press Weekly

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2015 August 19 - 25 [POLITICS]

Expansion of police wiretapping is unconstitutional: JCP Nihi

The House of Councilors on August 21 began discussing a bill to revise the wiretapping law. Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Nihi Sohei in the plenary session demanded withdrawal of the bill by claiming, “It would be security legislation in violation of the Constitution.”

The current wiretapping authorization law limits the scope of communication surveillance only to organized crimes, requiring investigators to obtain a court-issued warrant before wiretapping is carried out. This law prohibits law enforcement officers from eavesdropping on someone’s communication without the presence of a network operator or a telecom carrier.

Although the revised bill removes all these restrictions, it does not guarantee prevention of the abuse of wiretapping results by police authorities.

Nihi pointed out that the bill infringes on the privacy of personal communication, the right to privacy, and the principle of the need for warrants. He severely criticized the bill for expanding authorized wiretapping activities and fueling human rights abuses.

Japan doesn’t protest being spied on by US NSA

The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) spied on the Japanese government and Japan’s major trading companies for years, WikiLeaks recently revealed.

Nihi asked if the government lodged a protest against the spying. Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide answered, “Prime Minister Abe Shinzo expressed serious concerns to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.” In short, Japan has not made a protest to the U.S. administration over the NSA interception of communications of Japanese politicians.

Past related articles:
> Gov’t approves bill to allow police wiretapping of citizens’ communications[March 14, 2015]
> JCP Shimizu reveals 85% of police wiretaps have nothing to do with crime [May 22, 2015]