Controlling media is protecting dirty politicians -- Akahata editorial, June 28 (excerpts)

The Diet resumed discussing the 'personal information' bill, which will seriously threaten the freedom of speech and expression. Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro has not given up the effort to railroad the bill through the current Diet session.

Maintaining that the freedom of speech and the protection of human rights should be consistently guaranteed, Koizumi in parliament appreciated newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun's draft amendment to the government bill as a 'constructive' suggestion to this end. However, the Yomiuri draft calls for making minor changes, while leaving provisions of control on speech unchanged.

The government bill maintains that five principles, including restrictions on the use of personal information and appropriate acquisition should be applied to mass media, academic study, and political activities.

If the bill is enacted, it will make it impossible to report on bribery, corruption, and scandals involving Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers like Suzuki Muneo, if they disagree with making public their own information.

If any such case is brought to suit, as the government has acknowledged, such regulatory provisions of the bill will only work to restrain press coverage.

Once such a provision is enforced, anybody concerned in revealing internal documents of the Defense Agency's lists on personal information and the Foreign Ministry-Suzuki Muneo affairs will have to be asked if they got them appropriately or not.

Therefore, the government bill is a bill to suppress the freedom of speech, and to protect corrupt politicians and provide shelters for state crimes.

Serious violations of human rights through systematic and secret investigation by authorities (thought, creed, medical histories, etc.) are taking place. The government bill will not help take punitive steps against such offenses by ministries and agencies.

In parallel with the bill, the Diet is discussing a human rights protection bill, which is also aimed at curbing media reportage by putting the issue of the media in the same category as discrimination and ill-treatment.

Actually, by allowing an exterior committee of the Justice Ministry to judge whether the press coverage is 'excessive' and 'violated privacy' or not, the bill is intended to give a free hand to the government to intervene in the freedom of the press.

These rampant bills are planned out to assure the victory of the LDP in national elections, a maneuver which was adopted after the party's disastrous defeat in the 1998 House of Councilors election.

A relevant 1995 law of EU stipulates that government regulation should not be applied to the press and citizens' use of personal information.

Such government bills aiming to undermine the constitutional freedom of speech and expression should be withdrawn. The need now is for these bills to be completely withdrawn, and the government should stop attempting to make amendments to them.

Also, because Japan has not yet established a system to effectively protect personal information, the government policy of enforcing residents' basic registration network from August 5 should be postponed. (end)