Japan Press Weekly

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2011 August 17 - 23 TOP3 [CIVIL RIGHTS]

‘Secrecy maintenance’ legislation violates right to know

(excerpts)

A government expert panel on “secrecy maintenance” legislation has recently submitted to Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano Yukio a report proposing that a “secrecy maintenance” law be enacted, which could lead to restricting the public’s right to know.

The report asserts that information should be kept secret in regard to not only national security and military affairs but also in regard to foreign relations and the maintenance of public safety and order. The report also calls for heavy penalties of 5-10 years’ imprisonment for an offense.

Call for blanket secrecy

Behind the government attempt to enact a “secrecy maintenance” law lies the U.S. request based on the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) concluded between the Japanese and U.S. governments in 2007. The aim of the U.S. request is to legally protect the U.S. military information shared with Japan with the view to increasing and strengthening Japan-U.S. military collaboration. The Democratic Party of Japan seeks to strengthen the basis of the power it currently holds by responding favorably to the U.S. request.

As of December 2007, the Defense Ministry alone holds 109,000 secret items under existing laws. Even the Diet does not have access to this information.

To conceal information across the board, ranging from military affairs to the maintenance of public order, will obstruct public access to political documents and will violate the people’s right to know as guaranteed by the Japanese Constitution.

The report argues that the imposition of severe legal punishment will function to deter leaks of secrets. The existing secret protection law sets a maximum 10-year imprisonment for violations only in regard to information covered by the Japan-U.S. Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement. The report, however, calls for a major extension of secrecy beyond that currently-covered information. If adopted, employees of private corporations dealing with secret information of administrative organizations will also be subject to severe punishment.

Prewar error must not recur

Alleging that media coverage will not be unjustly restricted, the report states that news gathering activities, which may go against a “secrecy maintenance” law, will be punishable. This will lead to the violation of the freedom of inquiry and news gathering when the government arbitrarily designates a broad range of information secret and asserts that reporting on this information is punishable by law.

The prewar government and the military similarly blindfolded the media and the public with the military secrets protection law and other laws, and this paved the way to Japan’s war of aggression. To not repeat this prewar error, it is essential to increase the movement opposing the dangerous attempt to create a “secrecy maintenance” law.