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2009/03/13
Statement on issuance of order for maritime police operations relating to anti-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia
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On March 13, DPJ Policy Research Committee Chair Masayuki Naoshima issued the following statement.
Today, the Japanese government made a Cabinet decision to dispatch Japan Self Defense Forces for anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia, based on Article 82 of the Self Defense Forces Law, and Minister of Defense Yasukazu Hamada issued an immediate order [for the dispatch]. In conjunction with this, a new bill relating to operations against acts of piracy was approved by the Cabinet, and submitted to the Diet.
Since the Gulf of Aden is an important trade route for Japan, and Japanese nationals and Japan-related shipping have been the victims of attacks by pirates, we have no argument with the need for a prompt response. However, our nation’s anti-piracy operations are primarily the responsibility of the Japanese Coast Guard, and we cannot but feel it to be regrettable that an order for maritime police operations has been issued in an arbitrary way, as if dispatching the SDF is the be all and end all, despite the fact that all possible alternatives, including the dispatch of patrol boats, should have been considered. Moreover, since maritime police operations only allow for the protection of Japan-related shipping, it is difficult to cooperate with the international framework, and as the definition of shipping which had be protected is vague, there are many problems, such as how to actually determine which ships are to be protected.
The anti-piracy operations bill contains points that need to be debated, such as the widening of restrictions on the use of weapons, and we intend to closely examine it, but the Democratic Party of Japan also shares the same awareness of the need to move toward revising our domestic legal framework based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Furthermore, we are of the opinion that, as fundamental measures for dealing with piracy off the coast of Somalia, the coastguard capabilities of countries with coastlines close to Somalia should be enhanced, and assistance within a multinational framework, such as the formation of an international alliance of maritime police for anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and cooperation with the reconstruction of the Somalian nation, should be intensified.
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