Advancing on the pirates
(From The Japan Times Jan. 31 issue)

海賊対策のための海自派遣

The government has ordered the Maritime Self-Defense Force to prepare to deploy a task force off Somalia to patrol against pirates. The piracy threat to an important international commercial shipping route has forced the government to order the dispatch of MSDF ships equipped with helicopters and high-speed boats.

The number of piracy incidents off Somalia jumped from 44 in 2007 to 111 in 2008, with three Japan-linked ships involved. This year at least 15 incidents have been reported as of Jan. 29.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the European Union and 17 nations have dispatched warships and aircraft to the area. Deployment by China and South Korea's decision to deploy must have prompted Prime Minister Taro Aso's decision. The hastiness of the decision is indicated by the fact that the MSDF task force will be dispatched under the maritime police-action provision of the Self-Defense Forces Law. Coping with piracy is fundamentally the Japan Coast Guard's job and the law supposes that such action is limited to areas around Japan.

Under the provision, the MSDF can protect only Japanese-linked ships, such as Japanese-registered or managed ships, and ships with Japanese crew members or cargoes. Outside Japanese waters, use of weapons is limited to self-defense. MSDF ships can fire warning shots but cannot shoot at the hulls of pirate boats to stop them. The government has let the Defense Ministry write detailed guidelines for use of weapons in the MSDF's rules of engagement, which are not made public. This undermines civilian control of the SDF.

The government plans to enact a new law enabling the SDF to engage in anti-piracy missions. Such a law should be drafted for the specific situation at hand so that the Diet can carefully discuss the advisability of dispatching SDF units. Detailed rules for weapons use should be discussed in the open. The government and the Diet should be prudent enough to prevent limitless expansion of overseas SDF deployment and the use of weapons.

To restrain the activities of Somalia's pirates, the international community, including Japan, should seek cooperative ways to help stabilize that country socially and politically.

ソマリア沖の海賊対策で、政府は海上自衛隊に派遣の準備を指示した。

NATO、 EUと17カ国が船艇、航空機を派遣しているが、中国による派遣と韓国の派遣決定が麻生首相の背中を押したのだろう。決断が急だったことは、自衛隊法に基づく海上警備行動で海自を派遣することにも表れている。海賊行為の取り締まりは本来、海上保安庁の所管で、法は日本近海での警備行動を想定している。

現行法では他国の船を守れず、武器使用にも制限がある。政府が防衛省に委ねた武器使用基準作成は非公開で、文民統制上、好ましくない。

海賊対策の新法は、国会がケースごとに派遣の是非を慎重に審議できるよう特措法とし、武器使用基準の詳細は公開すべきだ。政府と国会は自衛隊派遣や武器使用の拡大を防ぐ必要がある。国際社会はソマリアの社会的･政治的安定をはかるべきだ。