OKAYAMA (Kyodo) The Okayama District Court dismissed a lawsuit Thursday in which more than 200 plaintiffs argued the past deployment of Self-Defense Forces elements in and around Iraq was unconstitutional.
Presiding Judge Teruo Koga gave no judgment on the constitutionality of the SDF deployment, while rejecting the plaintiffs' demand that the state pay them ¥10,000 each as consolation money.
The judge also rejected the demand that the SDF deployment be suspended, saying the plaintiffs have no right of claim under the Civil Code over execution of the country's administrative power.
He dismissed another of the plaintiffs' arguments that the deployment infringed on their right to live peacefully because the risk of being targeted by terrorists has increased.
Thursday's decision was the last judicial judgment on a series of lawsuits filed with 11 district courts across the country against the deployment of SDF troops for support activities in Iraq, according to lawyers representing the plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs lost all the lawsuits, except for one in which the Nagoya High Court ruled last April that the Air Self-Defense Force's Kuwait-Iraq airlifts were unconstitutional.
The court said the ASDF's mission to airlift troops from multinational forces to Baghdad, a war zone, is an act integral to the use of force by other countries.
But the high court rejected the plaintiffs' demand for the ASDF deployment to be suspended and the payment of damages. That decision stood as the plaintiffs filed no appeal with the Supreme Court.