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News Archive |
LAST UPDATE
July 11, 2005
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| April 13, 2004 |
An appeal for the liberation of the three Japanese hostages in Iraq and the immediate withdrawal of the Self-Defense Forces |
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As an NGO based in Japan, we demand the immediate release of all three civilians of Japanese nationality held hostage in Iraq. These three young people are civilians and they are in Iraq with the intention of carrying out humanitarian support for the Iraqi people. Moreover, they oppose both the occupation of Iraq by the US-coalition forces and the dispatch of Japan's Self-Defense Forces (SDF). It would be a senseless and violent act for these individuals to be murdered as a response to the SDF presence in Iraq. |
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We call for the support and solidarity of the Iraqi people in securing the safe release of the three hostages, and avoiding a tragedy.
Through their work, Noriaki Imai, Nahoko Takoto and Soichiro Koriyama hoped to support the Iraqi people in rebuilding their daily lives peacefully, without the intervention of foreign forces – either US or Japanese. They devoted themselves selflessly to these activities and in order to save their lives, we beg for your help. |
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Furthermore, we strongly urge the Japanese government to order the immediate withdrawal of the SDF from Iraq.
Throughout these past months we have warned that the dispatch of SDF will jeopardize the neutrality of Japanese civilians involved in humanitarian aid and reconstruction support in Iraq, impeding their activities, and moreover, make Japan a potential target of terrorist attacks such as those in Madrid, Spain. We deeply regret that what we feared has become reality. This presence of the SDF in Iraq, which violates the Japanese constitution, ignores the voices of the majority of Japanese citizens and fuels anger and hatred in some Iraqi people, is endangering the lives of three Japanese civilians. The presence of the SDF in Iraq is nothing more than a threat to human security.
We urge the Japanese government to withdraw the SDF immediately, and to mobilize non-military humanitarian support for Iraq in cooperation with NGOs and the United Nations. As NGO activists, we pledge here to listen to the voices of the Iraqi people and to support the reconstruction of Iraq by non-military means, according to the needs of the Iraqi people. |
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