JCP Chair Shii calls on Prime Minister Koizumi to decide on immediate SDF withdrawal
With the government vowing to continue the deployment of the Self-Defense Forces in Iraq even after the abduction of three Japanese citizens, Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo made representations to the government on April 9 requesting that the SDF be withdrawn from Iraq to avoid risking the lives of the Japanese hostages. The text of JCP Chair Shii's statement is as follows:
Three Japanese civilians were captured in Iraq by a group calling itself "Mujahedeen Brigades", which threatened to execute them unless the Japanese Self-Defense Forces are withdrawn from Iraq.
It is unpardonable and barbarous to hold civilians hostage and threaten to kill them unless the hostage-takers' demand is met.
The JCP demands that the Japanese government make every effort to ensure that the three people are safe and released without fail.
We should also keep in mind that the Japanese hostages could be killed as stated by the hostage-akers if the government's all-out effort to release the three Japanese people ends in failure because it continues to refuse to withdraw SDF troops from Iraq within the deadline imposed by the hostage-takers.
We absolutely reject the position of regarding that a loss of these Japanese people's lives is unavoidable because of action the government takes.
The government insists that it sees no reason why the SDF have to be withdrawn. Is there any "justification" in sticking to the continued deployment of the SDF at the cost of the lives of Japanese people?
Although the government explains that the SDF are in Iraq for "humanitarian assistance", such assistance has been extended by NGOs and other volunteer groups and individuals from many countries, including Japan. There has always been a fear that the deployment of the SDF may run a risk of endangering NGO personnel and volunteers in humanitarian assistance activities.
In fact, the present incident poses a very serious problem that affects the lives of civilians involved in humanitarian assistance. The government must avoid forsaking the lives of civilians participating in humanitarian assistance to justify the SDF deployment in the name of humanitarian assistance.
The dramatically worsening situation in Iraq no longer allows the government to continue to repeat its claim that the SDF will not be deployed in combat zones.
Resistance is increasing everywhere in Iraq to the U.S.- and British-led military occupation, and the occupation forces are cracking down on any resistance. As a result, combat is taking place throughout Iraq, causing a very serious situation. In Samawah, the SDF came under armed attack, which was believed to be a mortar attack.
During the parliamentary discussion of the bill to dispatch the SDF to Iraq, the government repeatedly stated, "The SDF will be withdrawn if the non-combat environment, which is the condition for SDF deployment, ceases to exist." In light of this statement, the government's insistence on the continued deployment of the SDF is no longer tenable.
We must prevent Japanese lives from being compromised by the government's insistence on the continued SDF deployment which lacks justification or rationale. The JCP demands that the government make a decision on a prompt withdrawal of the SDF. (end)
