ID :
43226
Fri, 01/30/2009 - 05:56
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/43226
The shortlink copeid
Defense official calls for eased weapons rules to engage pirates+
TOKYO, Jan. 29 Kyodo - Vice Defense Minister Kohei Masuda on Thursday called for easing rules on the use of weapons for the Maritime Self-Defense Force in a new bill now being drafted by the government for antipiracy operations overseas.
It is the first time that a senior defense official has publicly called for
such an easing, an issue that is certain to raise questions about its
consistency with the limitations on weapons use overseas placed by the
country's war-renouncing Constitution.
''Concerning the use of weapons in performing our duties, it is desirable for
us to be able to use the necessary weapons when it is truly essential to
achieve our goals,'' Masuda told a regular news conference.
''From that point of view,'' the ministry's top bureaucrat added, ''we would
like to have them (the rules) relaxed if shortcomings are found when going
about discussing within the framework of the use of weapons during the maritime
police action.''
Masuda's remark came a day after Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada told the MSDF
to prepare for deployment to waters off the coast of Somalia to protect
Japanese and Japan-linked commercial ships from pirates.
MSDF vessels are expected to be dispatched under the maritime police action
provision of the Self-Defense Forces Law. When they are deployed overseas under
the provision, they can only use weapons in limited circumstances, such as for
self-defense.
Masuda said officers serving in the mission may find it difficult to make quick
and proper decisions on the spot if they face pirates when acting within the
maritime police action framework.
The official said he hopes that the ruling parties consider this and other
pertinent issues when they work on a new bill that would provide new legal
footing to the antipiracy operations.
''In a nutshell, it is correlative to what roles we think we will make the
Maritime Self-Defense Force or the Self-Defense Forces play as their missions
under the new law,'' Masuda said.
A project team set up by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior
coalition partner, the New Komeito party, on Wednesday began discussing the
bill, focusing on weapons use rules. The ruling bloc hopes to see it submitted
to parliament in early March, according to lawmakers on the panel.
Resistance to easing the rules has already been lodged by opposition parties
and even by the New Komeito party. And it is all but certain to grow as the
actual MSDF dispatch nears -- which is expected to come in March.
''The existence of vessels would effectively have a deterrent effect in real
cases,'' Kazuo Kitagawa, New Komeito secretary general, told a news conference
on Wednesday. ''Even though that (a pirate attack) is unlikely in reality, they
(MSDF vessels) can still fire warning shots now.''
==Kyodo
2009-01-29 22:06:39
It is the first time that a senior defense official has publicly called for
such an easing, an issue that is certain to raise questions about its
consistency with the limitations on weapons use overseas placed by the
country's war-renouncing Constitution.
''Concerning the use of weapons in performing our duties, it is desirable for
us to be able to use the necessary weapons when it is truly essential to
achieve our goals,'' Masuda told a regular news conference.
''From that point of view,'' the ministry's top bureaucrat added, ''we would
like to have them (the rules) relaxed if shortcomings are found when going
about discussing within the framework of the use of weapons during the maritime
police action.''
Masuda's remark came a day after Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada told the MSDF
to prepare for deployment to waters off the coast of Somalia to protect
Japanese and Japan-linked commercial ships from pirates.
MSDF vessels are expected to be dispatched under the maritime police action
provision of the Self-Defense Forces Law. When they are deployed overseas under
the provision, they can only use weapons in limited circumstances, such as for
self-defense.
Masuda said officers serving in the mission may find it difficult to make quick
and proper decisions on the spot if they face pirates when acting within the
maritime police action framework.
The official said he hopes that the ruling parties consider this and other
pertinent issues when they work on a new bill that would provide new legal
footing to the antipiracy operations.
''In a nutshell, it is correlative to what roles we think we will make the
Maritime Self-Defense Force or the Self-Defense Forces play as their missions
under the new law,'' Masuda said.
A project team set up by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior
coalition partner, the New Komeito party, on Wednesday began discussing the
bill, focusing on weapons use rules. The ruling bloc hopes to see it submitted
to parliament in early March, according to lawmakers on the panel.
Resistance to easing the rules has already been lodged by opposition parties
and even by the New Komeito party. And it is all but certain to grow as the
actual MSDF dispatch nears -- which is expected to come in March.
''The existence of vessels would effectively have a deterrent effect in real
cases,'' Kazuo Kitagawa, New Komeito secretary general, told a news conference
on Wednesday. ''Even though that (a pirate attack) is unlikely in reality, they
(MSDF vessels) can still fire warning shots now.''
==Kyodo
2009-01-29 22:06:39
