MEETING WITH MEXT TO DISCUSS PROPOSED BILL ON

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 000742 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PARM PREL SUBJECT: MEETING WITH MEXT TO DISCUSS PROPOSED BILL ON NUCLEAR TERRORISM ¶1. SUMMARY. On January 30, 2007, Embassy EST section met with MEXT officials to glean additional information on the Government of Japan (GOJ) plan to submit to the Diet a bill intended to prevent nuclear and radiological terrorism. The bill is being introduced to the Diet to ratify the U.N. International Convention for The Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, signed by Japan in 2005. During our discussion, MEXT passed a written outline of the proposed law, offered potential reasons why the Diet could reject or delay the passage of the bill, and provided a justification for the exclusion of Article 8 in the Convention. END SUMMARY. -------------- Main Points of the Nuclear Terrorism Bill -------------- ¶2. MEXT provided Embassy EST with a document highlighting the key elements of the new law and Embassy Tokyo PAS/Translation Services provided the translation below. In general terms, the nuclear terrorism bill will call for an indefinite prison sentence for acts of dispersing radioactive substances for terrorist activity. (NOTE: An indefinite sentence, muki choeki, means one must spend at least 10 years in custody before they can be eligible for parole. After 10 years, a judge determines the number of remaining years left in one's sentence. However, according to a Ministry of Justice (MOJ) official, approximately 60%-70% of parole requests are not approved. In such cases, the criminal could remain in prison until his or her death. Under Japan's penal code, there is no life imprisonment but muki choeki does appear to be similar. It is the most severe punishment available, second only to the death penalty, which remains legal in Japan. In less severe terrorist-related crimes, the judge can hand down a definite sentence, yuuki choeki. This means that one can spend a minimum of 2 years and up to a maximum of 20 years in prison. Finally, the MOJ official concluded that no matter the degree of cruelty, capital punishment is not an option in nuclear terrorist-related proceedings. END NOTE.) Terrorist activities include detonating nuclear bombs, scattering radioactive material from the air, mixing radioactive material with food, and flushing such material down the drain to contaminate the environment. BEGIN TEXT: In order to properly secure facilities under the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, we are preparing the legislation that is needed to punish such acts as causing a chain reaction of atomic particles from nuclear-fuel materials that would endanger people's lives, bodies, and property. (Tentative Title) Outline of a law related to punishments for crimes, etc., that would cause danger to the lives of people, etc., due to the release of radioactivity. ¶1. Outline Provisions will be prepared marking the following act punishable by law: (a) Releasing radioactivity that would endanger people's lives, bodies, and property (b) Endangering people's lives, bodies, and property by a chain reaction of atomic particles from nuclear-fuel materials (nuclear reactor) (c) Preparatory acts leading to acts described in (a) and (b) (d) Construction or possession of devices and the like that would release radiation, or the possession of radioactive material (e) Attempts to carry out acts described in (a),(b),and (d) (f) Other acts (Threatening to use or coercing use of radioactive materials) Steps leading up to the signing of the Convention: The purposes of the Convention are to make such acts as the possession and use of radioactive material or explosives, nuclear devices, etc., crimes; and set punishments for such criminals, and procedures for handing them over, etc. February 1997: Negotiations began in the United Nations TOKYO 00000742 002 OF 002 (Proposed by Russia) April 2005: Adopted by the UN General Assembly September 2005: Signing begins at the UN Summit Meeting --Prime Minister Koizumi (at the time) signed together with other G8 members. Over 100 countries have signed the Convention. --The Convention will go into effect when 22 countries have ratified it (As of January 1, 2007, 11 countries had ratified the pact.) ¶2. Date to go into effect The International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism sets the day it will go into effect in Japan. END TEXT -------------- Process for Submitting the Bill -------------- ¶3. The nuclear terrorism bill is being drafted in consultation with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT),Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA),Ministry of Justice (MOJ),and the Cabinet Office (CAO). After the draft is complete, the Cabinet Office will issue a final approval and then submit it to the Diet sometime in March. MEXT pointed out that the bill is likely to pass but warned that unforeseeable domestic political events, such as the summer elections, could possibly delay or even reject the bill altogether. MEXT also mentioned that the DPJ opposition party could try to stall the bill. However, according to a DPJ staffer in charge of foreign/security policy matters, Kenji Sasaki, there is no current move to oppose the bill because the party is preoccupied with budget problems and political scandals. Sasaki elaborated further and stated that there is a chance that the party may decide not to discuss the bill at all during the Diet session because there are more urgent, pressing bills for DPJ to consider. -------------- Exclusion of Article 8 -------------- ¶4. MEXT asserted that the nuclear terrorism bill is based on the main points outlined in Article 2 of the Convention, which specifically deal with penalizing terrorist-related criminal offenses. The bill, however, does not tackle broader nuclear security preventive measures addressed in Article 8. MEXT stated that physical protection measures related to nuclear facilities are already covered in its Nuclear Reactor Regulation Law and are generally consistent with IAEA's INFCIRC/225/Rev.4 recommendations. (NOTE: So far, Japan has not incorporated into its national legislation two key elements proposed in the INFCIRC/225/Rev.4. namely, the posting of armed guards and conducting of full background checks. Because Japanese law prohibits posting armed guards at Japanese nuclear facilities, round-the-clock armed security is provided by the Riot Police Unit (anti-firearms squad) and by Japan Coast Guard patrol boats. Customs is also playing a role by actively installing sophisticated equipment to detect nuclear and other radioactive materials. Regarding background checks on employees with access to nuclear materials/facilities, Japan's privacy act restricts nuclear facilities to conduct such investigations. There are on-going discussions within the GOJ concerning the feasibility of adopting and executing background checks. However, an official at the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, stated that the implementation of such measures will be extremely difficult given Japan's rigid legal system and lengthy interagency coordination. END NOTE.) SCHIEFFER