by Yan Lei, Liu Xiuling
TOKYO, May 12 (Xinhua) -- "The new security laws are in violation of the pacifist constitution. They and Abe's attempts to amend the constitution, could see Japan return to militarism and are absolutely unacceptable to the people," said constitutional scholar Makoto Ito in a recent interview with Xinhua.
More than 700 people in Japan filed two class-action lawsuits against the Japanese government, seeking an injunction to block the deployment of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) personnel under the new laws, as well as state compensation for emotional damages.
Ito, a lawyer and representative of the civil group "Legal Actions against the Security Bills", said the people were working to scrap the security laws and voice their anger at the Abe administration.
"The security laws are definitely in violation of Japan's constitution," said Ito, who is also the chairman of the Japan Institute of Constitutional Law, a private non-profit organization dedicated to research and public education on the principles of the Constitution.
"Article 9 of Japan's constitution stipulates that the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. It also says that Japan does not recognize the right of belligerency of the state. However, if Japan's Self-Defense Forces fight overseas together with armies of other countries, it means that Japan is fighting a war. It's definitely against the pacifist constitution," said Ito.
Read the full story at Xinhua