Japan secrecy law stirs fear of limits on freedoms

By AP News Nov 26, 2013 TOKYO (AP) A proposed state secrecy law in Japan that imposes stiffer penalties on bureaucrats who leak information and ournalists who seek it is spurrin! a public outcry" with opponents blastin! it as a hea#y$handed effort to hide what the !o#ernment is doin! and restrict press freedom% The public&s top concern is that the !o#ernment won&t say e'actly what it wants to make secret% (ritics say the law could allow the !o#ernment to withhold information about whate#er it wants and ultimately undermine Japan&s democracy%

Pic: AP. The rulin! party says the )secrecy protection* law" which the lower house of parliament could #ote on as soon as Tuesday" is needed to allow the +nited ,tates and other allies to share national security information with Japan% Alon! with the creation of a +%,%$ style -ational ,ecurity (ouncil in his office" it&s part of an effort by Prime .inister ,hin/o Abe to beef up Japan&s role in !lobal security" and make a more authoritarian

!o#ernment at home% The mo#es are welcomed by the +nited ,tates" which wants a stron!er Japan to counter (hina&s military rise" but they raise fears in Japan that the country could be ed!in! back toward its militaristic past" when authorities se#erely restrained free speech% .y bi!!est concern is that it would be more difficult for the people to see the !o#ernment&s decision$makin! process"* said Kyou i Yana!isawa" a former top defense official who was in char!e of national security at the Prime .inister&s Office from 0112$0113% )That means we can&t check how or where the !o#ernment made mistakes" or help the !o#ernment make a wise decision%* The bill allows heads of !o#ernment ministries and a!encies to classify information related to defense" diplomacy" counterintelli!ence and counterterrorism" almost indefinitely% (ritics say that it mi!ht sway authorities to withhold more information about nuclear power plants" ar!uin! they could become terrorist tar!ets% Or they warn that officials may refuse to disclose key elements of free trade talks to protect concessions that would make Tokyo or a partner look bad% At a public hearin! in 4ukushima on .onday" the only one held by the !o#ernment ust before the planned #ote" lawyer 5iroyasu .aki said the bill&s definition of secrets is so #a!ue and broad that it could easily be e'panded to include radiation data crucial to the e#acuation and health of the residents in the case of another nuclear crisis% 6ulin! 7iberal 8emocratic Party lawmakers say 9ashin!ton has repeatedly said that they feel insecure about sharin! top security information with Japan due to its lack of le!al protection for secrets% The +%,% is worried about leaks to (hina" they say% (The bill) is by all means necessary to step up Japan&s intelli!ence le#els% .any other countries already ha#e le!al framework like this but Japan does not"* said -obutaka .achimura" a senior rulin! lawmaker and head of the party&s secrecy bill team% +nder the bill" leakers in the !o#ernment face a prison term of up to :1 years" up from one year now" if con#icted% Journalists who !et information )inappropriately* or )wron!fully* can !et up to fi#e years in prison" promptin! criticism that it would only make officials to be more secreti#e and intimidate the Japanese media% This is a se#ere threat on freedom to report in Japan"* said 7awrence 6epeta" a law

professor at .ei i +ni#ersity in Tokyo% );t appears the Abe administration has decided that they can !et a lot of what they want" which is to escape o#ersi!ht" to decrease transparency in the !o#ernment by passin! a law that !rants the !o#ernment and officials broad authority to desi!nate information as secret%* <'perts includin! 6epeta say the new law pa#es the way for Abe&s dri#e to re#ise Japan&s +%,%$drafted pacifist constitution to !i#e more power to the !o#ernment and stress ci#il duties o#er basic human ri!hts% (urrently" Japan lacks a comprehensi#e le!al framework to protect state secrets e'cept for )defense secrets* that the 8efense .inistry is allowed to decide% The proposed bill would complement a separate law" also due to be passed this week" to establish a -ational ,ecurity (ouncil that would centrali/e the chain of command in the office of the prime minister and !i#e him more power% 9ashin!ton sees the proposal as a positi#e step that would make Japan )more effecti#e alliance partner"* +%,% (har!e d&Affairs Kurt Ton! said in his recent speech in Tokyo% 5e ur!ed Japan" howe#er" to make the process transparent and to e'plain the policies to its Asian nei!hbors% The former bureaucrat" Yana!isawa says he does not recall any instance Japan failed to obtain necessary information from 9ashin!ton or other countries due to lack of secrets law% 9hen the +%,% or other countries decide not to share information with Japan" it was because of their own national interest not because of Japan secrecy protection" he added% <#en without the new secrecy law" ournalist Takichi -ishiyama" =0" was con#icted for e'posin! confidential cables related to Tokyo&s secret deal with 9ashin!ton o#er the re#ersion of +%,%$administered Okinawa to Japanese control in :3>0% 5e said what he re#ealed was only a tiny part of the mountain of secrets that ne#er surface% 5e said that most classified Japanese military or diplomatic documents often come out of +%,% archi#es" not Japanese% ;n this country" it&s already difficult enou!h to !et information to #erify our own history"* -ishiyama said% )The new law would only make it worse%* Japanese and forei!n ournalists" writers" academics and acti#ists ha#e opposed the bill% On Thursday" about :1"111 people !athered at a Tokyo park to protest the bill% Accordin! to the result of !o#ernment$sponsored )public comment* process in

,eptember" a policymakin! procedure similar to public hearin!" >> percent of about 31"111 comments opposed the bill" most of them e'pressin! concerns about a possibility of their ci#il acti#ities bein! curtailed% ,ome people worry that the law mi!ht point Japan back toward se#ere restrictions on freedom of speech and press imposed before and durin! 9orld 9ar ;;% +nder the .aintenance of the Public Order Act in :30?" some :11"111 people were arrested% Acti#ist Ka/uyuki Tokune says his attempts to access information about nuclear power plants may be considered ille!al under a broad interpretation of the law% ; may be arrested some day for my anti$nuclear acti#ity"* Tokune said durin! a recent protest a!ainst the secrecy bill outside the prime minister&s office% )@ut that doesn&t stop me%*