I'm afraid the following is a very bad article, for two reasons.

First, the title is not true. The Japanese government has not said that
it "will" deport Fischer to the US. (One might suggest that US embassy
media guys have been doing a bit of work in the past few hours).

Second, it is not clear whether the Japanese Immigration Bureau is
contradicting itself, or the journalist who wrote the article is.

If a person "shall" be deported to a country of which he is a
"national", then what does it mean to "judge it based on the situation
of the person involved and the home country [...] on a case-to-case
basis"?

Japan has international obligations not to send people back to regimes
that are persecuting them. Most regimes persecuting people will say that
a person is their national and should therefore be deported to their
territory. Japan has obligations not to consider such cases - and this
is not even an extradition case, let us recall - just on the basis of a
foreign government's say-so.

Let's be clear - Bobby Fischer is STATELESS. His stateless status is
recognised by the Icelandic government, which printed the word
'stateless' on his passport.

Just because someone was once a US citizen, does not mean every other
State has to recognise them as the property of the US government.

Does the Japanese government accept the position of Fischer's passport
issuer, or not?

And what would the point be of having extradition procedures if, when a
persecuting regime removes someone's passport, Japanese law says they
"shall" be deported to that regime's territory? (which I don't believe
it does).

The article is from:

http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=2&id=330847:

***BEGIN ARTICLE***

Japan says Fischer will be deported to U.S., not Iceland

Tuesday, March 15, 2005 at 19:08 JST

TOKYO - Japanese immigration authorities said Tuesday that U.S. chess
legend Bobby Fischer can only be deported to the United States and not
Iceland as demanded by the former world champion.

"We have determined that Fischer's case does not warrant being treated
as an exceptional case in our deportation procedures," said Masaharu
Miura, head of the Justice Ministry's Immigration Bureau.

Speaking before the House of Councillors' Committee on Foreign Affairs
and Defense, Miura said, "The basic principle for deportation is to
deport the person concerned to his home country as is stated in the
immigration law."

Under this provision, any person subject to deportation shall be
deported to a country of which he or she is a national. If that is not
possible, a person can be deported to another country according to his
or her desire.

Fischer, 62, has been detained for eight months at an immigration
detention facility near Tokyo for carrying what U.S. authorities say is
an invalid U.S. passport. But he and his supporters have argued his
passport was illegally revoked and have been fighting deportation to the
United States.

"We judge it based on the situation of the person involved and the home
country...on a case-to-case basis," Miura said without elaborating.

Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura, present at the hearing, said Japan
has not received any requests from the United States on Fischer's case
and refrained from commenting further as the case is "on trial."

The two were responding to questions by Kazuya Shimba, an upper house
member of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan.

Fischer's case has attracted international media attention since it
broke in summer last year, with many developments unfolding such as his
lawsuits, refugee application and engagement to a Japanese woman.

He has been wanted by the United States since winning a $3 million
rematch in Yugoslavia against Boris Spassky in 1992 when Yugoslavia was
under U.N. economic sanctions and Washington had barred its nationals
from economic activity there.

Iceland has issued a passport for Fischer to stay in Iceland, which he
has accepted.

Fischer believes he will not receive a fair trial in the United States,
having made controversial statements such as those hailing the Sept 11,
2001 attacks. (Kyodo News)

***END ARTICLE***

--
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It is unclear why Fischer must be deported, rather than allowed to
depart.

David Ames