JCP opposes SDF dispatch to Haiti on PKO mission without debate

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

JCP opposes SDF dispatch to Haiti on PKO mission without debate

The Japanese Communist Party is calling on the government to provide civil humanitarian reconstruction assistance instead of dispatching the Self-Defense Forces as a part of the U.N. peace keeping operations (PKO) in quake-hit Haiti.

JCP Policy Commission Chair Koike Akira at a news conference held on January 27 in the Diet expressed opposition to the government decision to send the SDF to Haiti on a PKO mission by stating, “The JCP is opposing the dispatch of armed forces without any time for debate.”

Koike pointed out that the primary purpose of the PKO mission is to police a ceasefire or withdrawals of troops in the first place.

Regarding it as “controversial,” the Japanese government itself has taken a cautious stance towards PKO activities in Haiti where anti-government forces have turned militant and the political situation continues to be unstable.

Koike stated, “It is a matter of course for Japan to provide some sort of assistance to Haiti. Japan has already dispatched its Disaster Relief Team (JDRT) with an SDF medical team participating. If the government wants to provide reconstruction assistance, it can expand the JDRT or employ other options other than sending an armed-SDF.”

- Akahata, January 28, 2010