information about Fukushima published in English in Japanese media info publiée en anglais dans la presse japonaise
15 Octobre 2014
October 15, 2014
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20141015p2a00m0na012000c.html
At least 130 prefectural and municipal assemblies across the country have adopted written statements urging the central government to scrap the state secrets protection law since it was enacted in December last year, the Mainichi Shimbun has learned.
The Mainichi compiled data based on written statements that the House of Representatives and House of Councillors have received from local assemblies. Dozens of other local bodies have called for careful administration of the law. It is rare for such a large number of local assemblies to adopt written statements over a specific law.
Five local assemblies submitted their written statements to the Diet this month, about 10 months after the law was enacted, underscoring the fact that deep-seated public distrust of the highly controversial law has not been dispelled. Three of these assemblies -- the Hokkaido prefecture town of Toyako, the Okayama Prefecture town of Kibichuo and the Tokushima Prefecture village of Sanagochi -- submitted statements, calling for the abolition of the law.
The Toride Municipal Assembly in Ibaraki Prefecture expressed strong misgivings about the law, saying in a written statement, "It tramples on the basic principles of Japan's Constitution: the sovereignty of the people, fundamental human rights and pacifism."
The Kameyama Municipal Assembly in Mie Prefecture called for abolition of the law, saying in a written statement, "It covers people's eyes and ears." The Kofu Municipal Assembly in Yamanashi Prefecture expressed its concern over the central government's operation of the law, writing that "It is feared that the scope of designated secrets could be arbitrarily expanded."
The municipal assembly in the Okinawa prefecture town of Kadena, home to the U.S. Air Force's Kadena Air Base -- the biggest air base in the Far East -- urged the central government to scrap the law because officials fear that they would not be able to obtain information on the operations of the U.S. forces and policies on military bases. The assembly wrote in its statement, "We feel concerned as we live in an area which is the most susceptible to the effects of the law. Our residents will not be able to grasp the actual situation to protect their lives and properties on their own."
No assemblies at the prefectural level have adopted statements explicitly demanding the abolition of the law, but the prefectural assemblies in Iwate, Niigata and Tottori prefectures separately adopted written opinions calling on the central government to carefully administer the law.
The Niigata Prefectural Assembly voted down a set of written opinions that called for abolition of and amendments to the law. But it subsequently adopted a written statement which said, "We strongly call on the government to give clear explanations to the people to secure sufficient understanding." An assembly member from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) said, "There is no need to abolish or amend the law." But the member went on to say, "There are opposing views among our supporters, so we couldn't simply vote down (the opinions) and leave the issue at that. We thought the assembly needed a declaration of intention in one form or another."
Such written opinions have no legal force toward the government and the Diet, but they are believed to wield a certain influence as local assemblies are allowed to submit such documents to the central government and the Diet under Article 99 of the Local Autonomy Act to have their views reflected in national politics.
At a Cabinet meeting on Oct. 14, the government decided on guidelines for classifying and declassifying state secrets under the law, together with a government decree which sets the enforcement date of the law for Dec. 10 and stipulates that 19 administrative bodies will be allowed to designate state secrets.
Although the law stipulates that information falling under 23 categories in four areas -- diplomacy, defense, counterterrorism and counterespionage -- can be designated as state secrets, the operational guidelines further subdivide these into 55 items.
As for oversight functions, the post of a councillor-level "independent public document control officer" and a support unit, referred to as an "intelligence and security observation unit," will be established within the Cabinet Office. A "Cabinet maintenance and oversight committee" consisting of officials from government ministries and agencies at the vice-ministerial level will also be set up within the Cabinet Secretariat.