Fooling People

Shinzo Abe administration made a cabinet decision on operational standard for Designated Secrecy Act, which was one of the most controversial legislation under Abe. The law will be activated in December 10^th. Even after collecting public comments, the amendment was limited to minor change. The legislation is deeply suspected to violate human rights for freedom by concealing important information from people’s eyes. This is another step of Japan to approach authoritarian regime, seen in Russia or China, taking distance from consolidated democracy in North America and Europe.

The law determines security secrets as designated secrets and poses ten years in prison or shorter on public workers or related private workers. It listed fifty-five secrets categorized into four fields; defense, diplomacy, preventing espionage activities and preventing terrorism. Resisters of secret are limited to ten governmental organizations including National Security Conference, Cabinet Secretariat or Ministry of Defense.

Independent Archive Officer checks legitimacy of designated secrets. Although the officer can request submission of designated secrets to ministers in charge, the minister can reject it, if necessary. Is there any minister who opens the secret that he or she once hid? The law simply fools the people. If the government were serious about preserving people’s right, the officer needs to be someone independent from the government.

What is the baseline for determining the secret? The answer is collecting information by self-defense force or preserving peace and security in international society. It is too unclear for sovereign people to know what is the secret of the government and what is not. This can not be a democracy at all.

The law also violates human rights of public workers. The workers who deal with designated secret will be checked the history of crime and mental disease. Medical doctors on mental disease argued that there was no relation between leaking secret and mental disease, but it was dismissed.

The government collected 23,820 comments from the public, only 27 of which were applied. The amendment included revising of the provisions five years later. According to Mainichi Shimbun, one hundred thirty congresses of cities and towns all over Japan have passed resolution opposing the law. Most local governments worry violation of the Constitution, which guarantees people’s sovereignty, respecting basic human rights and pacifism. Prime Minister Abe has shown no attitude to listen to those voices. Although he asserts the law needs for maintaining Japan-U.S. alliance, the democracy in Japan is escaping from American democracy.