Statement for a Peaceful Resolution to the Iraq Crisis

Japanese

In his January 28, 2003 State of the Union Address, the U.S. President Bush declared that the U.S. will initiate a military attack against Republic of Iraq to eliminate that country's threat to the security of his own country. As justification for this action he claims that Republic of Iraq, in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 687 (1991) and other requirements, researches, develops, and possesses weapons of mass destruction, possibly has again embraced the intent to dominate the Middle East, and would plunge that region into serious chaos, and he further claims that Republic of Iraq is thought to pose the danger of large-scale terrorism because that country aids and harbors terrorists. Currently the U.S. is assembling a force of 150,000 including several aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf region, and is making preparations enabling it to launch a military attack against Republic of Iraq at any time. The U.K. has indicated that it stands shoulder to shoulder with the U.S., and is sending its forces to the Persian Gulf region.

The world stands on the threshold of a major war, which would clearly take many lives and cause the worst violations of human rights.

Based on the firm resolution to never again suffer the horrors of war, the Japanese people "desire peace for all time," "recognize that all peoples of the world have the right to live in peace, free from fear and want," and "pledge our national honor to accomplish these high ideals and purposes with all our resources" (from the Preamble of Constitution of Japan).

Japanese government should do everything in its power to avoid war pursuant to the Constitution's principles of pacifism and international cooperation, and from Japan's stance, as the world's only atomic-bombed country, of abolishing weapons of mass destruction.

Over the more than half-century since foundation of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA), the organization has based its actions on the Constitution and the Practicing Attorney Law, pursuing its mission to defend peace and human rights and achieve social justice, oppose nuclear tests and seek the abolition of nuclear weapons, and in other ways advocate the right to live in peace. From that stance the JFBA hereby emphatically requests Japanese government initiate the following actions:

(1)	To insist to the UN, the U.S., the U.K., and Republic of Iraq that this situation must be resolved through non-military means, and to lobby them for that purpose.
(2)	To render neither support nor assistance to them, and to oppose such action in the event that the U.S. and other countries move to take military action.

The JFBA makes a broad, worldwide appeal that all the people of the world who desire peace will work in concert and find a non-military resolution to this crisis that could jeopardize peace and security.

Tohru MOTOBAYASHI
President
Japan Federation of Bar Associations
February 5, 2003