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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20020712a5.htm The Japan Times July 12, 2002 SUPPORT OF U.S. 'UNCONSTITUTIONAL' Suit challenges war on terror effort -"Our constitutional right to live in peace cannot be realized by the sacrifice of innocent Afghan people who have faced bloodshed," the complaint states. -Article 9 states the Japanese people "forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes." SAITAMA (Kyodo) More than 250 people filed a lawsuit Thursday with the Saitama District Court to challenge the constitutionality of an antiterrorism law that allows the Self-Defense Forces to lend noncombat support to the U.S.-led military campaign against terrorism. According to the plaintiffs' lawyers, it is the first civil suit to seek nullification of the law, which was enacted Oct. 29 in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. The plaintiffs argue the law violates the Constitution's recognition of the right of people around the world to live in peace and its renunciation of war as a means of settling international disputes. "The SDF activities under the antiterrorism law should be considered military activities and an exercise of collective defense, as they have enabled the U.S.-led forces to maintain military action," the suit says. The plaintiffs also said Japan's support of military action in and around Afghanistan violates an international convention on the rights of children, charging that the U.S. and British bombing of the country has worsened the living conditions of children there. They demanded that the government not dispatch any more SDF units to the Arabian Sea and other areas, and order SDF ships currently in the area to return to Japan. In addition, the plaintiffs demanded the government pay each of them 10,000 yen in compensation, saying the antiterrorism law violates their constitutional right to live in peace. "Our constitutional right to live in peace cannot be realized by the sacrifice of innocent Afghan people who have faced bloodshed," the complaint states. Takashi Suga, head of the lawyers, said: "Japan has at last launched military activities by supplying oil and materials to the U.S.-led forces. The plaintiffs cannot help but ask the court to stop this." Toshiko Tachibana of the city of Saitama said: "We filed this lawsuit as we hope to live in peace. We do not want to take someone's life and we do not want to do the devil's work." The government in May announced an extension of the SDF's six-month mission in the Arabian Sea and other areas, which began Nov. 20, through Nov. 19, on the grounds that the risk of further terrorist acts against the U.S. and its allies remains high. The antiterrorism law restricts the SDF's activities to providing logistic support to the U.S.-led forces waging a military campaign against terrorism, but critics say the extension of the deadline may ensnare Japan in a wider U.S. war against terrorism, including possible military strikes against Iraq. The Constitution states in its preamble that the Japanese people "recognize that all peoples of the world have the right to live in peace, free from fear and want." Article 9 states the Japanese people "forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Sign up for SBC Yahoo! Dial - First Month Free http://sbc.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
