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Statements Archive |
LAST UPDATE
July 11, 2005
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| October 31, 2004 |
Statement on the death of Japanese hostage and call for withdrawal of
Japan's troops |
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- Concerning the Koizumi Administration’s responsibility for the Japanese Hostage killed in Iraq
- Demanding an official declaration of intent to withdraw the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) from Iraq by December 14, 2004
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With the confirmation that Koda Shosei, who had been taken hostage by militants in Iraq, has been found dead, we at Peace Boat feel outrage towards the militants who took his life and are at a loss for words when we consider the heartrending sorrow the family is suffering.
We are outraged at the cruel attitude of the militants in targeting a civilian. At the same time, however, we bear bitter resentment against the Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro. The Prime Minister did not appear to care sincerely about the life of a Japanese youth. He has continued to pursue his policies of dispatching the SDF and recklessly following the United States in Iraq, even after it has been proven that Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction, and that therefore the justification for going to war was false. Specifically, in this hostage incident, we believe that he is heavily responsible for the outcome due to his placing the utmost priority on keeping the SDF deployed over appealing for release of the hostage and respecting life. Prime Minister Koizumi made an inhumane action in rejecting outright the militants’ demands of pulling the SDF out of Iraq before making any effort to negotiate with them. He cannot be free from blame for thus stimulating the militants and leading this case towards its tragic conclusion.
We state again that the Administration’s policies of dispatching the SDF troops to Iraq and blindly following the United States are to blame for the tragedies of Japanese hostages being taken by militants, and Japanese diplomats and journalists being killed which have occurred since the end of last year. In order not to create more victims, and to protect the safety of Japanese nationals overseas, the Koizumi Administration must declare that the withdrawal of the SDF will be done by December 14, 2004 – the time limit set by the special legislation passed enabling Japan to send troops to Iraq.
We know that more than one hundred thousand innocent civilians have been killed in Iraq. The Administration has sent armed Japanese troops into this country, where the blood of women and children is being shed daily. In these circumstances, it stands to reason that Japan cannot gain a supportive feeling from the people of Iraq, even though Japan insists that it devotes itself only to humanitarian and reconstruction assistance.
Therefore, we demand the Koizumi Administration to declare that the Japanese Self-Defense Force troops will withdraw by December 14, 2004 in order not to repeat such tragedies, to listen to the voice of the Japanese people, and, most importantly, to save the lives of both Japanese and Iraqi civilians. |
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