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2016 October 5 - 11 [POLITICS]

Tokyo’s ward assembly calls for halt to GSDF dispatch to South Sudan

The Bunkyo Ward Assembly in Tokyo on September 29 adopted a petition calling for the cancellation of the dispatch of the Ground Self-Defense Force to South Sudan with the majority support of the assembly’s political groups, including the Japanese Communist Party. The Liberal Democratic and Komei parties were opposed to the adoption of the petition.

The South Sudanese capital city of Juba where the GSDF will be sent has been in a state of civil war. On the assumption that the GSDF comes under attack, it has already begun its field training exercises to warn and suppress armed groups by using weapons and fighting back in cooperation with foreign troops participating in the UN PKO mission.

The petition expresses concern that new GSDF duties in the PKO in Juba may cause its personnel to kill or be killed for the first time in postwar Japan’s history.

Furthermore, the petition calls on the Bunkyo Ward Assembly to make a request to the national government to call a halt to SDF exercises for “kaketsuke-keigo” duties (deploying rapidly to remote locations to rescue foreign military units and civilians under attack).

Past related article:
> Gov’t should withdraw SDF from South Sudan: JCP Kasai [October 4, 2016]