Defense Minister Tomomi Inada insisted on Feb. 8 that the term "combat" used in a daily report written in July last year by a Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) unit stationed in South Sudan for U.N. peacekeeping operations (PKO) did not refer to "an act of combat in a legal sense," but rather to an event akin to "an armed conflict."
In response to a question raised by Nobuhiro Koyama of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) during a lower house Budget Committee meeting, Inada argued that "an act of combat" that would be problematic under war-renouncing Article 9 of Japan's Constitution refers to "armed conflicts between nations or between a nation and a quasi-state organization." She went on to assert that the term "combat" thus does not apply to the situation in South Sudan. The July 2016 daily report included the description of the area where the GSDF troops were stationed, stating that "combat is happening."
Japan's PKO cooperation law has five principles for Self-Defense Forces participation in U.N. peacekeeping missions, including the conclusion of a cease-fire agreement between warring parties. Inada told the committee that the GSDF unit was operating under the five principals, repeating the government's past position on the issue.
At the same time, Inada said, "I assume that the unit used the term 'combat' (in the report) in the general dictionary definition sense of the word. There were incidents where people were murdered with weapons, and objects were vandalized."
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