Japanese hostage killing: a critical moment for Japan

Asia-Pacific, Middle East, News February 2, 2015 , by IRIA No Comments

On Sunday morning Japan woke to the news of the death of Kenji Goto, whose apparent killing was shown in a video released by Islamic State militants.

Japan has reacted with anger and defiance to a video appearing to show the beheading of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto by an Islamic State militant.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan “would not give in to terrorism” and that he would expand his support to countries fighting IS.

ISIS has cited Japanese aid as a reason for the hostage taking.

The video comes less than a week after the apparent beheading of another Japanese man, Haruna Yukawa.

Mr Goto, 47, a respected journalist known for his work covering the suffering of civilians in war zones, went to Syria in October, reportedly to try to secure Mr Yukawa’s release.

The video, which has all the hallmarks of previous IS propaganda videos, has not been authenticated, but Japanese officials believe it is genuine.

In the video, Mr Goto is seen kneeling in an orange jumpsuit.

A militant speaking with an English accent who is believed to have appeared in previous videos and is known as “Jihadi John”, addresses Mr Abe, accusing him of a “reckless decision to take part in an unwinnable war”.

Kenji Goto’s friend Mark Tchelistcheff: “Our hearts are very heavy with this news”

Mr Abe called the killing a “heinous act”, adding that Japan would work with the international community to bring those responsible for Mr Goto’s apparent murder to justice.

There has been strong condemnation from the US and other allies in the fight against IS.

Mr Goto’s mother Junko Ishido said she was speechless at his death, saying he had gone to Syria out of “kindness and courage”.

“I was hoping Kenji would come back alive,” his brother Junichi told Japanese broadcaster NHK TV.

This incident raises important questions about the future security of Japanese citizens at home and abroad, the degree of Japanese public support for the country’s increasingly proactive foreign policy, and the prospects in 2015 for government legislation to allow Japan’s Self-Defence Forces (SDF) to play a more active overseas role.

While there was widespread shock at the two deaths, Japanese public reaction to the hostage crisis in general has been mixed.

Many Japanese responded to the humanitarian dimension of the crisis, using social media to express their solidarity with the victims and their families.

Some lobbied the government to rescue the two men by acceding to the hostage-takers’ demands, either through the payment of a $200m ransom or by engineering the release of Sajida al-Rishawi – a former Al-Qaeda activist imprisoned in Jordan for her role in a bomb attack on a wedding in the country in 2005.

Others, by contrast, have been critical of the two captured Japanese, accusing them of a lack of responsibility in travelling to Syria in the first place, suggesting that they had needlessly endangered themselves and wider Japanese interests, and implicitly arguing that the government had little obligation to prioritize their case.

BBC/PRESS TV