今日は国連大学でのパネルディスカッションに参加しました。テーマはInternational Peace Cooperation:Evolution of Japanese Policy and Practice。主にPKOへの参加の在り方について、日本国憲法や予算との関連で議論をした他、紛争地域の平和構築において日本の特性をどのように活かすかというテーマでディスカッションをしました。私を含む２人の国会議員、そして内閣府と防衛省から２人の政府関係者がスピーチを行った後、二人の国会議員が大使館関係者や国連関係者、研究者の方々から質問を受ける形式でした。外国人の参加者が大半で、英語が得意ではない私はヒヤヒヤでしたが、それぞれの経験に基づく高い問題意識が提起された有意義な時間になりました。貴重な機会を準備してくださった方々、参加者の方々、特に、今回のモデレーターを務めた、UNTAC時代の私の上司で、今は法政大学教授を務める長谷川祐弘氏には心から感謝を申し上げます。
私のスピーチ内容は下記の通りです。紛争後の正義の回復に焦点をあて、特にビルマに対してどのような貢献が可能か考察をしました。
Consideration concerning about reconciliation in peace building
I’m Naoto Sakaguchi, Member of the House of Representatives from DPJ. Before I became a Diet member, I had been working on the field of peace building and supporting democratization in Post Conflict countries like Cambodia, Mozambique, East Timor, mainly as a field worker.
By the way,it is widely regarded that it’s easy to start a war but difficult to end it. Mediation and Reconciliation is even more difficult.
How should we resolve and prevent the recurrence of conflicts? In general, Japan’s contribution is regarded as dispatching emergency relief missions or to join peacekeeping operations by self defense forth. On the other hand, civilians also can contribute for long term peace building so that the conflict is not repeated.
Today I would like to focus on restoring justice and raise a few issues in relation to Burma in particular.
In the case of crimes against humanity and other war crimes in particular, it is believed that the first step toward reconciliation is to make amends for crimes against humanity committed during wartime by investigating the facts, punishing those responsible, and making reparations.
In other word, justice needs to be restored. However, in cases where court systems are not functioning, or where there are too many people involved for a precise judgement, another approach is to establish truth commissions and entrust these with the role of supplementing courts as public institutions.
Truth commissions to find facts related with human rights abuses are already underway in more than 30 countries. Because the status of conflicts and human rights infringements differs greatly according to the country, these truth commissions also have different roles. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor, and Rwanda’s gacaca courts could all be described as transitional-period efforts to restore justice and bring about reconciliation through investigation of the truth. The purpose, in short, is reconciliation in exchange for facts.
Maybe we can say truth commission is for restorative justice which focuses on helping victims. It could also be described as helping victims and their families by helping them to forgive. In terms of the philosophical underpinnings of restorative justice, Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress was strongly influenced by Gandhism, while Christian teachings shaped efforts in Rwanda.
In the case of Burma, after many years under a military control, the present administration set a course toward democratization midway through last year, and the country is currently in the midst of dramatic change. This year, I have had the chance to meet twice with Ms, Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of Burma’s democratization movement and now chairperson of opposition party. The ideal of realizing freedom and democracy without resorting to violence, which Aung San Suu Kyi continued to call for by quoting the words of Mahatma Gandhi even during her long years of house arrest, is surely approaching.
When the National League for Democracy, of which Aung San Suu Kyi is the chairperson, swept to victory in the April 2012 by-election, Aung San Suu Kyi campaigned for three issues. Institution of the rule of law, constitutional reform, and an end to domestic conflict. I think Rule of Law is to reveal the truth about violence and human rights abuses under Burma’s long-standing military domination. At the same time, Aung San Suu Kyi and president Thein Sein, who is working to advance democratization, currently need each other, and a strict investigation into past human rights abuses at this point in time could also stop the current of democratization. I have asked many Burmese about this particular point. Many have responded that while a legal tribunal is necessary, this is not the right time, and that a tribunal is not the most important matter. The majority felt that such a tribunal would be better to take place after a change of government by general elections, when democratization was properly on track. I was surprised at the tolerant attitudes of Burmese people to the military administration’s rule of fear and the human rights infringements.
Key here are Buddhist values. Buddhism emphasizes not punishment and retributive judgements, but rather compassionate forgiveness.
At the 1951 San Francisco Peace Conference, former Sri Lankan President Junius Richard Jayewardene, who was Minister of Finance at the time, addressed the matter of Japanese reparations following World War II by quoting the words of the Buddha “Hatred ceases not by hatred, but by love,” and renounced Sri Lanka’s right to claim reparations.
Most countries at the time wanted to take a hard line against Japan, arguing, for example, that Japan should not be given peace at that stage, or that the country should be divided into north and south and governed accordingly, Jayewardene instead quoted those words of the Buddha.
He argued that The Sri Lankan people were, he said, Buddhists. The war was past history. It was time to forget hatred and meet Japan with compassion.
With these words, he revealed that Sri Lanka would renounce its claim to reparations and appealed for Japan to be accepted back into the international community. His address moved many Asian countries and created momentum for renouncing reparations from Japan.
The rule of law is important, and in Burma too, it will be vital to reveal the facts about the human rights abuses of past administrations and deal with these in a court of law. But when and how should the facts be investigated? This is primarily the choice of the Burmese people, but the international community and civil society must provide support so that it can play a meaningful role based on a solid understanding of the values rooted in Burma’s culture and religion.
To make method of combination of restoration of justice by role of law and to cease hatered by our values, this is that Japan should play an important role. I believe that Japan as a fellow Asian country and indeed a fellow Buddhist country has a major role to do in this process. Using this approach, a relatively small investment can help to build a long-term peace. Providing this as a package with assistance for legal development, good governance, education, and democratization would foster a synergistic effect. A contribution from this perspective is the ultimate contribution that Japan could make. I think one of Japan’s goals in near future is to be a good mediator for peace by corporation of diplomatic and civilian power.
In closing, because resolving conflict is a truly difficult task, might I suggest that even those of you with the ability to resolve international conflicts should do your utmost to avoid conflicts with your families and partners!