Press Conference by the Deputy Director of the International Press Division on the G-7/P-8 Ministerial Conference in Paris on Terrorism

30 July 1996

The Morning Plenary Session of the G-7/P-8 Ministerial Conference in Paris on Terrorism
Deputy Director of the International Press Division Takahisa Tsugawa:Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs press conference. I would like to brief you on the Morning Plenary Session between the foreign ministers and the ministers in charge of security. During the morning plenary session, after the initial statement by the French Chair, each delegation made a statement. The Plenary Session was held to make a general review and consideration of the specific features of the present problems related to terrorism and counterterrorism measures, including each country's domestic measures, as well as international cooperation in this area. As a general feature of this gathering -- in regard to the main features of the present issues related to terrorism -- the following points were taken up. The first is the emergence of the new force of terrorism, in addition to the more traditional or older type of terrorism. They especially focused on the features of terrorist activities related to regional conflicts, civil wars, or internal domestic perturbation. They also pointed out the globalization of the terrorist phenomenon. More concretely, among the new types of terrorist activities, there are such activities as those in which the ideological protest is not necessarily clear, so identifying objectives is rather difficult. Also, in the context of the international movement of persons, ideas, or information, the techniques of terrorist actions are diversified, as we see in such cases as the abuse of high technology, or the diversification of resource procurement. In this regard, specific questions, like the recent movements of the Islamic extremists, were taken up by several delegations. But also, terrorism motivated by young militants is not only led by religious characters, but by charismatic ones in general. These movements as a whole show the fact that normal citizens are directly exposed to terrorist threats. The ministers insisted on formulation of early concrete practical measures within the G-7+1/P-8, as well as in the international community as a whole. The ministers insisted on the importance of this Ministerial Meeting, which was given its mandate by the agreement reached in Lyon between the heads of states and governments. But, they also insisted on the importance of putting forth specific, concrete and practical measures, and strengthening international cooperation -- which would be beyond the framework of the P-8. Several delegations referred to strengthening their own domestic policies, and in general they insisted on the importance of improving the exchange of information on terrorist activities, arms trafficking, border control, and so on.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Yukihiko Ikeda and Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission Hiroyuki Kurata expressed Japan's views as follows. First, Foreign Minister Ikeda announced the hosting of a seminar on international counterterrorism cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. Japan views international cooperation, which is beyond P-8 cooperation, as important, especially the involvement of developing countries. From this viewpoint, Foreign Minister Ikeda made it clear that Japan would like to hold a seminar of experts in Japan between autumn of this year and the next G-7 Summit in Denver. Experts will be invited from the relevant members of the P-8, and also from the countries of Asia and Latin America -- countries facing terrorism issues. The concrete format of this seminar will be studied further. Chairman Kurata explained the actual situation surrounding the investigation of a series of crimes committed by the religious sect Aum Shinrikyo. His statement was as follows: "Japan has conducted a full-scale search since March 1995 last year. So far, more than 420 people have already been arrested. But, several suspects are still at large. Taking into account that many followers of this sect still declare spiritual support to the cult leader Asahara, the situation is not yet at the stage we can be optimistic." He pointed out the major features of these crimes. First, the fact that chemical materials which were originally used as weapons were used by the terrorist group. This fact shows the abuse of high technology in terrorist activities. Second, the fact that these crimes were committed by a religious sect -- an organization which did not overtly engage in terrorist activities. These features made police investigations difficult. Also, he explained the measures taken by his office in response to these crimes. He reported that, as domestic measures, the National Police Agency strengthened the Scientific Police Research Institute, the division in charge of chemical investigations. In the National Police Agency, they established the Office for Special Investigations. Through these measures, they mean to strengthen the information gathering capacity of investigation authorities. Secondly, in the field of international cooperation, they explained that they are intensifying information exchange with other relevant countries. Efforts are being made, especially toward sharing the lessons learned from the cases in Japan which are subject to spreading to other countries. From this point of view, the Japanese delegation made a concrete proposal at the Ottawa Ministerial Meeting in December last year -- holding an expert meeting on countermeasures against biological and chemical terrorism. This expert meeting took place this year in Paris, France. The Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission finally reaffirmed the importance of international cooperation for global security. This is the main basic Japanese statement regarding this Plenary Session.

Afterwards, the foreign ministers and the ministers in charge of security broke up into separate meetings. However, I did not follow these separate meetings, nor was I debriefed. I will stop here.

That is the announcement that I wanted to make, and I will be delighted to respond to any questions that you might have.
Proposed embargo on Libya and Iran
Q: What is Japan's opinion about the United States' desire for an embargo on Iran and Libya that France opposes?

A: During the Plenary Session this subject was not taken up. I am not sure, in the separate meeting of foreign ministers, to what extent this subject will be addressed. Generally speaking, we are of the view that we should pay due attention to legislative developments in the United States, because such a measure may constitute extraterritorial application of a domestic law, which is impermissible under the relevant international law. We made our interests clear several times to the United States. According to such principles, our Foreign Minister may participate in such a discussion if such an issue is taken up. I would avoid making any comments on exactly how discussions will go among the ministers. If afterward I become aware of the content of the discussions, I will let you know. Let me point out that so far during the Plenary Session, thanks especially to the Chairmanship of the French ministers, the discussions were conducted in a very harmonious way.
Japan's role in international cooperation on counterterrorism
Q: Is there any area of expertise that Japan feels it can contribute to specifically in international cooperation against terrorism?

A: We would like to make a general contribution to the whole process of cooperation. As I mentioned before, we can make concrete contributions in the field of chemical terrorism which we experienced domestically.
Terrorist activity by Aum Shinrikyo
Q: Concerning Japan's role in tracing the Aum Shinrikyo Sect, is that the sort of thing that will be discussed with Russia?

A: Several delegations mentioned the case of Aum Shinrikyo in relation to new features involving the use of chemical materials, not as chemical weapons but as a form of terrorism. My impression was that there is a rather widespread fear among the ministers.

Q: Do you think that Japan would like harmonized legislation to suppress the activities of Aum? I think Japanese legislation is very different in regard to arrests.

A: As far as chemical materials are concerned, there is already a general international legal framework on chemical weapons. So far, Japan is not in a position to make a proposal on a new legal framework.
Technology and terrorist activity
Q: Have there been any discussions today of the Internet, and dissemination of information via the Internet that can help terrorists, or give them ideas or information linked to terrorism?

A: In general, the transmission of information was one of the major features of such a new force of terrorism. In this context, reference was made to the Internet.

Q: Could you elaborate as to what discussion there was about that?

A: There were several very general statements, but no further discussion on any specific measures to control telecommunications or electronics.

Q: So, just a general concern and fear was expressed, but no measures have been proposed yet?

A: Yes, you will see that at the experts level, the final statement is being drafted.
Free movement of individuals across borders
Q: What about security against terrorist movement?

A: In the context of the actual relation of free movements of persons, there are some concerns about civil aviation or public transportation that were announced.

Q: Were measures discussed on how to stop...

A: I will refrain from discussing any proposals. You will see them in the final declaration.
Classification of terrorism types
Q: In Japan's view, is there a distinction between political terrorism and sect terrorism? Should these be handled in different ways?

A: No, we treat terrorism generally. We don't make any specific distinction between such sources of terrorism as you made reference to. In a general context, we have expressed our concerns about these new types of terrorism, and made concrete measures in response to new situations.
Legislative measures related to terrorism
Q: Are the measures more administrative than legislative?

A: There is much room for the Japanese legislation to be improved. But, this concerns the general legal framework of the national system.

Q: Would you like to see the G-7 bend towards more common legislation?

A: Our objectives are commonly shared, so certain harmonization should be sought.
Russian Federation concerns over terrorism
Q: What do the Russian delegations say? Do they offer any new kind of cooperation? What do they have to offer or say?

A: As a member of the Japanese delegation, I would refrain from commenting on exactly what was said specifically by the Russian Federation delegation. The Russian Federation minister expressed general global concerns about terrorism and discussed some regional elements, especially their domestic concerns, and concerns in Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and so on. In a general sense, the Russian Federation is in line with the other delegations in charge of the common targets of counterterrorist efforts. Thank you very much.

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