Dear the peace-loving peoples of the world
I
have sent a letter requesting the nomination for Nobel Peace Prize from the
Executive Committee for “The Nobel Peace Prize
for Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution”.
【Deadline for Submission of Nominations】： 31
January ２０２３ at 12 midnight CET.
l It is welcome to send
the executive committee's Nomination Letterr text as the reason for your
nomination.
I
will transfer it below.
With a heartfelt prayer for world peace
Request
to nominate two Japanese pacifist organizations for the Nobel Peace Prize 2023
to defend Article 9 of the Constitution, which renounces war.
We, the Executive Committee for “The Nobel Peace Prize for Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution”, started the action to nominate the following 2 organizations for THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE 2023.
TheNationwide Network for Lawsuits
on the Unconstitutionality of the New SecurityLaws
and
The National Citizens’ Action to
Say No! to the Revision of Article 9 of the Constitution
have long stood at the forefront
of the peace and human right movement and to protect Article 9 of the
Constitution which renounces war,
Please Nominate these
Organizations for the Nobel Peace Prize!
The Constitution of Japan firmly
upholds pacifism. It renounces war and refuses to possess armed forces and to
recognize the right of belligerency so that the country will never repeat the
mistake of waging war and will help bring peace to the entire world. As an
initiative to maintain this great Constitution, especially the Preamble and
Article 9, and to ensure that Japan practices and disseminates these pacifist
principles around the world, the Executive Committee for “The Nobel Peace Prize
for Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution” has decided to launch a campaign to
nominate for the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize two organizations that have long stood
at the forefront of the movement to safeguard the current Constitution. These
organizations are the Nationwide Network for Lawsuits on the
Unconstitutionality of the New Security Laws, and the National Citizens’
Action to Say No! to the Revision of Article 9 of the Constitution.
The Japanese government has
announced that Japan will possess the capability to attack enemies’ military
bases, and that the country will increase its defense spending to 43 trillion
yen in total over the next five years. With this increase, Japan will become
the world’s third-largest military powerhouse behind the United States and China.
What the government is trying to do is change the Constitution for the worse,
or reduce it to a dead letter, turning Japan into a state ready to engage in
war. For peoples of other countries, the militarization of Japan is nothing but
a threat to peace. We live in the world where war never ceases to break out.
What Japan should do is strive for the ideal and objective that the
Constitution espouses in order to create a world that no longer sees war.
Having experienced the
catastrophe of the Asia-Pacific War, the citizens of Japan declared their
determination not to engage in war ever again as their promise to the world.
The Preamble and Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan represent this promise.
War breaks out as a conflict between governments, yet it is humans that decide
to launch or end war.
The
Preamble states, “we have determined to preserve our security and existence,
trusting in the justice and faith of the peace-loving peoples of the world,”
declaring that trusting in the justice and faith of peace-loving human beings
is the way to prevent war, or stop any started wars.
With
this preamble as the premise, and with the knowledge of the mistakes humans had
made, Article 9 of the Constitution stipulates the following in Paragraphs 1
and 2 in order to fundamentally deter war that is provoked by distrust of human
beings: “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”; “land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will
never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be
recognized.”
In this
light, the Constitution of Japan is a step closer to peace than Article 51
of the United Nations Charter that endorses, to a limited extent,
individual or collective self-defense in an emergency. The UN Charter was
signed on June 26, 1945, which means that it was written when the world had not
witnessed the horrors of the nuclear weapons dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The Constitution of Japan, which was written after humankind experienced
even more appalling cruelty , presents the world’s greatest and most progressive
provisions.
However,
with the passage of time, a movement has emerged to label these provisions as
an unattainable ideal that should be destroyed.
The Japanese government had long
stated that the right of collective self-defense was unconstitutional. In July
2014, the Abe administration had this right approved by its Cabinet,
overturning the long-standing statement. In the early morning of September 19,
2015, the administration railroaded the security bill (“war legislation”). To
challenge the constitutionality of this legislation in court, the Nationwide
Network for Lawsuits on the Unconstitutionality of the New Security Laws
instituted 25 civil actions in 22 courts across Japan in April 2016, starting
from Tokyo. Currently, 7,699 plaintiffs and 1,685 attorneys are fighting
without pay, urging the judicial branch, which has the authority to determine
the constitutionality of legislation under the system of separation of powers,
to fulfill its primary responsibility in this extraordinary situation where the
legislative and executive branches have violated the Constitution. This has
been an uphill battle, with all the verdicts delivered against the plaintiffs
thus far, while none of the decisions state that the security legislation is
constitutional. This legal battle has been extensive, in-depth, and fierce.
The National Citizens’ Action to
Say No! to the Revision of Article 9 of the Constitution (formerly called the
National Citizens’ Action to Say No! to the Revision of Article 9 of the
Constitution by Abe) was launched at the initiative of the All-Out Action
Committee for No War and No Destruction of Article 9, and the Article 9
Association, in August 2017. The launch was a response to a call for action
announced by 19 initiators, who were driven by a sense of urgency as they saw
the possible revision of the Constitution for the worse, to prevent further
moves by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who clearly expressed his will to revise
Article 9. The organization works with numerous pacifist organizations and
individuals to continue its protest against the violations of the Constitution
committed by the government.
The National
Citizens’ Action also collected 12,369,461 signatures for its petition called
“Signatures for the Constitution,” which it already submitted to the
government. The organization continues to collect signatures for more petitions
and engage in campaigns to fight the battle to prevent the revision of Article
9.
As you see, the Nationwide
Network for Lawsuits on the Unconstitutionality of the New Security Laws has
been engaging in the legal fight based on the Constitution, which is the
country’s supreme law, in order to stop the government from further running out
of control; and the National Citizens’ Action to Say No! to the Revision of
Article 9 of the Constitution, which is Japan’s largest pro-Constitution
organization, has been fighting by voicing its protest at the Diet and
collecting signatures for petitions to represent public opinion. If the Nobel
Peace Prize is awarded to these two organizations, Article 9 of the
Constitution of Japan, which was written and maintained to represent the
people’s yearning for peace, may serve as a clear signpost pointing to world
peace. We also believe that, once the Prize is awarded, Article 9 will give
hope to anyone around the world who pray for peace, along with the strength
needed to take a step toward peace that does not rely on armed forces.
Now is
the time to protect, practice, and disseminate Article 9 of the Constitution of
Japan that renounces war as the world’s new standard. Hence, we ask that you
nominate these organizations for the Nobel Peace Prize. It would also be
greatly appreciated if we could receive your help in expanding the wave of
nomination by those who meet the nomination criteria across the world.
Praying that we will see the
world without war as soon as possible,
January 7, 2023
Joint Representatives of the
Executive Committee for “The Nobel Peace Prize for Article 9 of the Japanese
Constitution”
Yoshiaki Ishigaki, Hisashi
Okada, Masayuki Ochiai, Naomi Takasu, Yasuyo Takeuchi
Criteria for Nominators
l Members of national assemblies
and national governments (cabinet members/ministers) of sovereign states as
well as current heads of state
l Members of The International
Court of Justice in The Hague and The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The
Hague
l Members of l'Institut de Droit
International
l Members of the International
Board of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
l University professors,
professors emeriti and associate professors of history, social sciences, law,
philosophy, theology, and religion; university rectors and university directors
(or their equivalents); directors of peace research institutes and foreign
policy institutes
l Persons who have been awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize
l Members of the main board of
directors or its equivalent of organizations that have been awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize
l Current and former members of
the Norwegian Nobel Committee
l Former advisers to the Norwegian
Nobel Committee
(From
the website of the Nobel Prize: https://www.nobelpeaceprize.org/nobel-peace-prize/nomination/criteria-for-nominators)
Deadline for Submission of
Nominations
31 January at 12 midnight
CET.
How to Make a Nomination
【Submission Methods】
On-line
form / E-mail: postmaster@nobel.no / Post : The Norwegian Nobel Committee, Henrik
Ibsens gate 51 0255 Oslo, NORWAY
Submission Documentation to send by e-mail, post
In order to remain open to the various ways in which the qualities of a candidate may be conveyed, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has not introduced a special nomination submission form. The nomination need not be lengthy, but should include:
• the name of the candidate,
• an explanation of why the individual or organization is considered by the nominator to be a worthy candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize,
• and the name, title and academic or professional affiliation of the nominator.
* If we could publish your name
as a nominator, please email your name and qualification for making a
nomination (your university, specialization, and title if you are a university
professor) in Japanese and English to the Executive Committee
at c.npp4a9@gmail.com no later than January 31.
Nomination Letter
I nominate
The
Nationwide Network for Lawsuits on the Unconstitutionality of the New Security
Laws
and
The
National Citizens’ Action to Say No! to the Revision of Article 9 of the
Constitution
for the
2023 Nobel Peace Prize, as they stand at the forefront of the
movement to protect Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan that renounces war
and to disseminate the principle that the Article represents around the world.
Japan adopted the Preamble and
Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan in order to declare its determination
not to engage in war ever again after its citizens experienced the catastrophe
of the Asia-Pacific War.
However,
the Japanese government has announced that the country will have the capability
to attack enemies’ military bases and other policies that will enable
pre-emptive attacks. The government has recently announced that Japan will
increase its defense spending to 43 trillion yen over the next five years,
which will make the country the world’s third-largest military powerhouse
behind the United States and China. This is nothing but an attempt to change
the Constitution for the worse or reduce it to a dead letter, so that Japan
will turn into a state ready to engage in war.
Despite
these challenging circumstances, these two organizations are determined not to
allow the change to materialize and continue their activities to safeguard the
pacifist Constitution and prevent war at all costs.
In July
2014, the Japanese government had the security legislation, which is also
called a war legislation, approved by the Cabinet, and in September 2015, the
government railroaded the legislation at the Diet. the Nationwide Network for
Lawsuits on the Unconstitutionality of the New Security Laws stated that the
legislation was utterly unconstitutional, and instituted 25 civil actions in 22
courts across Japan. 7,700 plaintiffs and 1,700 attorneys have strong
support from a great many citizens of the country.
The
National Citizens’ Action to Say No! to the Revision of Article 9 of the
Constitution integrates actions by peace organizations across Japan to protest
against the series of constitutional violations by the Japanese government. The
National Citizen’s Action collected 12,369,461 signatures for the petition
“Signatures for the Constitution,” which was submitted to the government.
To
protect Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan that renounces war, and to
ensure that Japan practices and disseminates the principle that the Article
represents around the world, I nominate these two organizations that have
continued to stand at the forefront of the movement to safeguard the current
Constitution of Japan
