|
Civic groups oppose conspiracy bill prior to Diet deliberations+
(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, April 19_(Kyodo) _ Civic groups voiced opposition Wednesday to a proposed bill to recognize conspiracy as a crime even without actual actions, saying it would heavily restrict their daily activities for human rights, the environment and peace.
In a meeting by the groups at the Diet building, Makoto Teranaka from Amnesty International Japan said, "If the conspiracy bill is approved, even making a plea for better governmental policies could become a crime as it could be considered an obstruction of business."
"The activities of local communities and municipalities would be affected by the bill as well," he said before the start of Diet deliberations on the bill on Friday.
A total of 168 organizations, including Amnesty and Greenpeace Japan, as well as 82 individuals have joined in opposition to the bill, while some opposition party lawmakers including Nobuto Hosaka of the Social Democratic Party and Shokichi Kina of the Democratic Party of Japan also took part in the session.
The bill was initially submitted to parliament in 2003 as the U.N. Convention against Transnational Organized Crime that Japan signed in December 2000 requires that signatory nations set up conspiracy charges.
But the bill was scrapped twice and has been carried over to subsequent Diet sessions for further deliberations due to resistance from opposition parties and civic organizations, who have claimed that punishing mere discussions would mean suppression of freedom of thought and expression.
The bill would revise the organized crime punishment law to recognize conspiracy as a crime, making it a criminal offense to take part in plotting crimes even if a crime is never carried out.
[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
|
TMCnet LOGIN
Webinars
