According to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan’s new “anti-conspiracy” bill will “punish terrorism preparation.”
“We would like to implement the law appropriately and effectively in order to protect the lives and the assets of the Japanese people,” said Abe on Thursday.
The law, recently passed by Japan’s parliament, will allow police to arrest individuals and groups planning to commit 277 criminal actions.
This crackdown on terrorism and organized crime comes in preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
However, the Japanese Bar Association has criticized the bill, saying that it would “highly likely infringe civil liberties.” Some of the crimes include activities with no connection to terrorism. For instance, a person protesting a building site or violating music copyrights could be imprisoned.
U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy Joseph Cannataci was also concerned about the new law. On May 18, he wrote a letter to the Japanese government, criticizing the wide range of crimes that people can be arrested for.
“I am concerned by the risks of arbitrary application of this legislation given the vague definition of what would constitute the ‘planning,’” stated Cannataci, “and given the inclusion of an overbroad range of crimes … which are apparently unrelated to terrorism and organized crime.”
Japanese Opposition Democratic Party leader Renho Murata felt “unspeakable anger” towards the “brutal” law, stating that it “allowed a breeding ground for problems in the lives of citizens” and affected freedom of thought.
“Prime Minister Abe and the coalition partners owe a very significant responsibility (for) it,” she said.
Murata also accused the prime minister of using the bill for political purposes, stating that the bill was unnecessarily hurried to be passed before the Diet’s summer recess.
“What’s the rush? I cannot help but think the way the bill is being steamrolled represents the government’s wish to hurry up and end the Diet session. It is unforgivable that the ruling coalition has become a yes man of Prime Minister Abe and abandoned its responsibility to supervise the government,” she asserted.
According to Koichi Nakano, political science professor at Tokyo’s Sophia University, the law “fundamentally” changed Japan’s legal system.
“Unless a crime is committed in Japan, you don’t get punished … now if they think you are thinking of preparing to commit a crime, even before you’re arrested, you’ll be put under surveillance, [leading] to a substantial expansion of police power to investigate people and put them under surveillance.”
With this increased surveillance and law enforcement, the new law strongly resembles the Peace Prevention Law enacted in Japan in 1925, the era of the infamous Thought Police, said Nakano.
“At that time, they reassured people that ordinary people wouldn’t be affected,” continued the professor. “But the law was abused, it persecuted communists, and then religious leaders, leaders and ordinary people.”
Jeff Kingston, Asian Studies director at Temple University in Japan, condemned the legislation as well.
“The government has been trying to use extensive fear mongering as a way to justify curbing civil liberties and putting democracy in handcuffs. They are giving the police extensive powers and criminalizing things that ought not to be a crime in a democracy,” asserted Kingston.
Protests against the new law have occurred since December; however, the public did not find out the extent of the punishable crimes until recent weeks, sparking more protests.
Some Japanese seem to agree with their government’s actions against terrorism. A Kyoto news survey in May found that 39.9 percent of respondents supported the legislation, while 41.4 percent did not.
Despite the controversy and debate, Japan’s government insists that the anti-conspiracy bill is the only way for it to fulfill its international duty to fight terrorism.
Prime Minister Abe called Cannataci’s statement “extremely unbalanced,” claiming that it was “hardly that of an objective expert.”
“It’s only three years until the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics and so I’d like to ratify the treaty on organized crime as soon as possible so we can firmly cooperate with international society to prevent terrorism,” continued Abe. “That’s why the law was enacted.”
