Secrecy against All Odds

More people are raising their voices against unreasonable restriction of the right to access governmental information. Scholars found the Designated Secrecy Bill unconstitutional and required immediate abolition. Skepticisms are expanding to foreign nations, as media reports their concern on oppression of Japanese government on its people. Even public workers are worried about it, mainly on insufficiency of the bill. Nevertheless, Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, ordered his party members to pass the bill before the end of the Diet session on December 6^th against all odds.

Thirty-one scholars, including historians, economists, or political scientists, released a joint statement against the bill on Thursday. “The Designated Secrecy Bill is dangerous in terms of allowing the government of broad discretion in determining designated secrets. If the bill passes, people’s right to know, legislators’ investigation right, freedom of report, expression, press and academic freedom will be restricted,” said the statement. One of the members, Toshihide Masukawa, Nobel Prize laureate physicist, said that he saw an intention of PM to make Japan a war-fightable country and required acknowledgement of ordinary people.

Foreign media are also worried about oppressive attitude of the government. New York Times criticized the bill in an editorial, saying “This lack of definition means the government could well designate any inconvenient information secret.” Foreign Correspondent Club of Japan released a statement protesting restrictions of activities to access news sources in the government. “Such journalism is not a crime, but rather a crucial part of the checks-and-balances that go hand-in-hand with democracy,” it described. Those showed how the bill was derailed from ordinary concept of democracy in the world.

In spite of the bill is basically designated to refrain public workers from leaking national information, they are not so positive to tell something against the bill. But some are bravely express their concern on the bill. Former civilian officer in the Ministry of Defense, Kyoji Yanagisawa, has been skeptical about the bill. Some bureaucrats in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expect that they will be able to get strictly qualified information from the United States after the bill is activated. But Yanagisawa dismisses that merit, because a country gives the other countries information only when it enhances national interest.

Consequently, the bill is designed only for the purpose of hiding state information, oppressing the people, and expanding bureaucracy. Japan is going to be illiberal.