National Public Safety Commission (Japan)

From Freepedia

The National Public Safety Commission (国家公安委員会 Kokkakōan'iinkai) is the organization, consisting of about five members and answering to the cabinet of the Japanese government, which oversees public security in Japan. It ranks above the National Police Agency and supervises the police system. It is known by its shorthand Kōan (公安).

The mission of the National Public Safety Commission is to guarantee the neutrality of the police by insulating the force from political pressure and to ensure the maintenance of democratic methods in police administration. The commission's primary function is to supervise the National Police Agency, and it has the authority to appoint or dismiss senior police officers. The commission consists of a chairman, who holds the rank of minister of state, and five members appointed by the prime minister with the consent of both houses of the Diet. The commission operates independently of the cabinet, but liaison and coordination with it are facilitated by the chairman's being a member of that body.

Historically, the commission has kept watch over the activities of communists in Japan, but it is also believed that it watches for extreme nationalist activists in Japan as well. Liberals in Japan have long criticized the secrecy of the commission and have cautioned that it undermines the rights of the Japanese people.