社説:旅券返納命令 前例にしてはならない

February 10, 2015(Mainichi Japan)
Editorial: Exercise prudence in restricting overseas travel
社説:旅券返納命令　前例にしてはならない

Passports serve as the most effective official identification cards for their bearers when they travel overseas. The Foreign Ministry describes passports on its website as the second most important things for their bearers next only to their lives. Therefore, the ministry's confiscation of the passport of a freelance photographer who had planned to visit Syria in late February to gather news should not be regarded as a precedent.
　外国を旅行する際、旅券（パスポート）は最も公的な身分証明書になる。外務省はホームページで「命の次に大切なもの」と紹介している。だからこそ、今回のようなケースが前例になって繰り返されることがあってはならない。
   
The ministry took the action under Article 19 of the Passport Act, which allows authorities to order individuals to return their passports if it is necessary to force them to call off their planned overseas trips to protect their lives or assets. This is the first time that the clause has been invoked to confiscate a passport since the law came into force in 1951.
　今月末にシリアでの取材を計画していた新潟市のフリーカメラマンから、外務省が旅券を取り上げた。
　旅券法１９条の「名義人の生命、身体または財産の保護のために渡航を中止させる必要」がある場合に返納を命じることができるという規定に基づく措置だった。１９５１年に旅券法が制定されて以来、この種の返納命令は初めてだという。

Article 22 of the Constitution guarantees citizens the freedom to travel overseas along with the freedom to change their residence and choose their occupation as their inherent rights. Moreover, freedom of the press is inevitable in a democratic society, which is guaranteed by journalists' news-gathering activities.
　憲法２２条は、海外渡航の自由を認めている。居住、移転の自由や職業選択の自由とともに国民の権利という位置づけだ。民主主義社会には報道の自由も不可欠であり、それを担保するのが取材活動である。

On the other hand, the ruthless Islamic State (IS) militant group now rules some areas of Syria. The photographer had intended to go to northern Syria in a bid to cover refugee camps and other places that are not under the rule of the militants. However, it would be almost impossible to completely eliminate risks of being targeted by the militants.
　他方でシリアは、イスラム過激派組織「イスラム国」（ＩＳ＝Islamic State）がまだら状に支配している。カメラマンはシリア北部に入り、ＩＳの支配下にない難民キャンプなどを取材するつもりだったというが、リスクを完全に遮断できるとは思えない。

The IS has released the painful images of two Japanese hostages, whom the group claims it has murdered, and threatened to target any Japanese national wherever they are. Should the photographer be confined by the Islamic State group, it would not only endanger his life but also adversely affect Japan's diplomatic policies. In the latest hostage crisis, the Jordanian government got involved in the case, demonstrating that the adverse effects of terrorism could spread to the international community.
　ＩＳが日本人２人の残虐な殺害映像を流し、日本人はどこにいてもテロの対象になると脅したばかりである。もしもＩＳに拘束された場合、本人の命を危険にさらすばかりか、日本の外交政策が制約を受ける。先の人質事件ではヨルダン政府も巻き込まれ、テロの悪影響が国際社会に広がることが明確になった。

The photographer's plan to visit Syria was reported by some media outlets after the hostage crisis came to a tragic end. It was only natural that the Foreign Ministry urged the photographer to call off his trip, considering that the timing of his planned visit to Syria was so close to the time of the recent hostage crisis and that if he were to be attacked by terrorists, it would have a serious political impact on Japan.
　カメラマンのシリア入国計画は、人質事件が無残な結末を迎えた後に一部メディアが報じた。時期が事件と近接していることや、もし新たなテロが発生した場合の政治的影響の大きさを考えれば、入国計画を把握した外務省などが当人に渡航中止を求めるのはやむを得ないことだ。

What is regrettable is how the ministry forced the photographer to cancel his trip.
　残念なのはその手段である。

The fact that the Foreign Ministry had never ordered anyone to return their passports under Article 19 of the Passport Act highlights the seriousness of the impact of such an order. Without a passport, it is impossible for anyone to travel overseas. As such, the ministry should have sought other methods to avoid forcibly imposing restrictions on the freedom to travel overseas guaranteed by the Constitution, though there was little time to act.
　過去に旅券の返納命令が出されていないというのは、その重大さの裏返しであろう。旅券がなければ所持者の海外渡航は事実上、不可能になる。いかに緊急性があったにしても、憲法上の権利に対する強制的な制限を避けるべく、別の方法を最後まで追求してほしかった。

The Foreign Ministry has so far urged members of the public to refrain from visiting certain countries or evacuate depending on the countries' levels of danger. There are calls within the ruling coalition for more effective measures to force members of the public to refrain from visiting dangerous countries or areas. However, such measures would allow the government to intervene more deeply in people's daily lives under the pretext of protecting Japanese nationals. It could also lead to indirect media regulations.
　外務省はこれまで海外の危険度に応じて渡航自粛の要請や退避勧告を行ってきた。与党内では今回のようなケースに対応するために、より実効性のある措置を求める意見が出ている。しかし、それでは「邦人保護」の名の下に政府が国民生活により広く介入することになり、間接的なメディア規制にもつながる。

The government should exercise prudence in restricting Japanese nationals' overseas travel and treat the latest measure as an exception.
　政府は抑制的に対応し、今回の措置を例外にとどめるべきだ。

毎日新聞　2015年02月10日　02時30分