On March 3, 2015, 30 groups of the Okinawan civil society sent a letter of condemnation and demand to the US military in Okinawa regarding the arrest and detention of two Japanese citizens (one Okinawan and the other Japanese) by the US military on February 22 (see below the full text of the letter).
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| All Okinawa Protest Rally at Camp Schwab on Feb. 22 |
One of the individuals arrested, Mr. Hiroji Yamashiro of the Okinawa Heiwa Undo Center, was scheduled to chair an all-Okinawa protest rally to be held just a few meters from the place of the arrest later that day.
Since July 2014, the Japanese government has been using its power and
violence to suppress the anti base construction movement of Okinawa and to push
forward the construction of the military base (see The Ryukyu Shimpo). Now, the US military appears to
have moved from its previous position of “bystander” to become an active
participant in the oppression of the Okinawan movement.
While the groups members are very concerned with this new role the US military plays in
Okinawa, they also take this as an opportunity for them to more directly take issue
with and challenge the US military on the issue of the construction of the
base. The letter of condemnation and demand signifies this new direction the Okinawan civil society is taking.
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| From Oura wansaka park, a new life-size dugong statue looks toward Oura Bay. |
Hideki Yoshikawa
Here is our letter.
Groups of the
Okinawan Civil Society
304 Ginowan Seminar House
4-24-7
Shimashi, Ginowan City
Okinawa, Japan
March 3, 2015
Lieutenant General John Wissler
Commanding General, III Marine Expeditionary Force
Commander, US Marine Forces Japan
Camp Courtney, Camp Foster
Okinawa, Japan
Lieutenant General Wissler:
We, groups of the Okinawan civil society, write to you
and the U.S. military to express our condemnation and to demand a full
explanation and justice regarding the arrest and detention of two Japanese
civilians (Okinawan and Japanese) by the US military at Camp Schwab in Okinawa,
Japan on February 22, 2015.
According to eyewitness accounts and media reports, Mr.
Hiroji Yamashiro, Chairperson of Okinawa Heiwa Undo Center and Mr. Daigaku
Tanimoto of Miyako Island, were at the main gate of Camp Schwab along with some
forty individuals around at 9:00 am on that day. They were protesting against
the construction of a US military base in Henoko and Oura Bay, Nago, Okinawa,
Japan, exercising their rights to freedom of assembly, association, speech, and
other forms of expression, ensured by Article 21 of the Japanese Constitution
and Article 19 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights. The
protest at Camp Schwab had just entered its 231st day since
it began in July 2014 and an all Okinawa protest rally was scheduled to be held
at Camp Schwab on the afternoon that day.
As the protesters became more eager, they began to move
toward the “yellow line” at the gate, which has been drawn recently to mark the
divide between the military base and Okinawa’s public land. Mr. Yamashiro
instructed the protesters to remain calm and stay behind the line. The
protesters began to retreat while the Okinawa Prefectural Police on watch
witnessed them doing so.
Then all of sudden, several private security guards under
the control of the U.S. military rushed out from inside the base; they pushed
and pulled Mr. Yamashiro down on the ground from behind; they dragged him by
his feet into the military side of the yellow line. This action was taken while
Mr. Yamashiro was urging the protesters not to cross the line. As he was
facing the protesters, he had his back to the line, and could not see it.
Once on the US military side of the yellow line, the
security guards handed Mr. Yamashiro to the U.S. military police and the US
military police arrested him by handcuffing him behind his back.
Mr. Tanimoto tried to rescue Mr. Yamashiro, but he was
also arrested by US military police in a similar manner, being dragged down and
handcuffed behind his back.
Mr. Yamashiro and Mr. Tanimoto were then taken to a
building on Camp Schwab for interrogation. The US military police apparently
told them through an interpreter that they were arrested for violation of the US-Japan
Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). They were detained in separate rooms
for the next three hours. Both Mr. Yamashiro and Mr. Tanimoto exercised their
rights to remain silent during interrogation.
Later that day, Mr. Yamashiro and Mr. Tanimoto were
transferred from Camp Schwab to the Nago Police Station. There they also were
also arrested and detained by the Okinawa prefectural police. According to a
police officer at the Nago station quoted in the Okinawa Times (Feb. 24, 2015),
once both men were handed from US military to the Nago station, “(the Okinawa
prefectural police) had no choice, but arrested them” because of the SOFA.
The next day, on February 23, Mr. Yamashiro and Mr.
Tanimoto were taken to the Naha District Prosecutors Office for interrogation.
The prosecutors office decided not to request further detention of them for
reasons the prosecutors office was quoted as saying “(it) cannot disclose”
(Kyodo News Feb. 23, 2015). Mr. Yamashiro and Mr. Tanimoto were returned to the
Nago Police Station where they were released later that day.
All the while, the US military did not provide the
Okinawan public with any official explanation regarding the arrest and
detention of Mr. Yamashiro and Mr. Tanimoto. However, according to the Okinawa
Times (Feb. 25, 2015), Joseph W. King, Camp Director at Camp Schwab reported to
a delegation from the Special Committee on Okinawa and Northern Problems (House
of Councilors) who were visiting Okinawa that the arrest and detention were made
in accordance with “a directive from a superior.”
We believe that the arrest and detention of Mr. Yamashiro
and Mr. Tanimoto by the US military were unnecessary and unjustified; the
arrest and detention violated the rights of Mr. Yamashiro and Mr. Tanimoto to
freedom of expression ensured by the Japanese Constitution and the
International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights.
We believe that in arresting and detaining Mr. Yamashiro
and Mr. Tanimoto, the US military overstepped its authority stipulated by
agreements between Japan and U.S. We believe that the arrest and
detention of the two Japanese individuals by the US military constitute an
intentional threat and attempt to intimidate the democratic voice of the people
of Okinawa and the protest movement of Okinawa against the construction of the
military base in Henoko and Oura Bay.
We cannot believe it was a coincidence that Mr. Yamashiro
was arrested just a few hours before he was scheduled to chair an all-Okinawa
protest rally to be held just a few meters from the place of arrest.
We condemn the U.S. military’s arrest and detention of
Mr. Yamashiro and Mr. Tanimoto.
We demand that the US military provide a full explanation
of why and how, in the chain of command, these decisions were made and these
actions were taken in the arrest and detention of Mr. Yamashiro and Mr.
Tanimoto.
We demand that the U.S. military make necessary decisions
and take necessary actions to redress the injustice and violation inflicted by
the U.S. military upon Mr. Yamashiro and Mr. Tanimoto.
We demand that the U.S. military understand and respect
that the democratic voice of the people of Okinawa is against the construction
of the US military base in Henoko and Oura Bay.
We demand that the U.S. military understand and respect
our rights to freedom of assembly, association, speech and other forms of
expression ensured by the Japanese Constitution and the International Covenant
of Civil and Political Rights.
Sincerely yours,
Okinawa Heiwa Shimin Renrakukai
The
Conference Opposing Heliport Construction
Okinawa Heiwa Undo Center
No
Heliport Base Association of 10 Districts North of Futamai
Tida
no kai
Nuchidu
Takara Forum
Okinawa
Peace Constitution League/Article 9
Uruma
City Gushikawa Peace Constitution League/Article 9
Okinawa
Women Act Against Military Violence
Haebaru
Peace Guides Party
Okinawa
Peace Walking Committee
Half
Century Miyamori
Inochio
Mamoru Naichingeru no kai
Okinawa
han no hi no kai
Okinawan
and Korean Solidarity Group Against US Military Bases
New
Wave To Hope
No
Helipad Takae Residents Society
Okumagawa Basin Protection Found
Association to Promote Ryukyu
Islands as World Natural Heritage
Okinawa
Environmental Network
Dugong
Protection Found
Dugong
Network Okinawa
Association to Protect
Northernmost Dugong
Save the Dugong Campaign Center
Minshuku Yaponeshia
The Save Awase Higata
Association
Naha Broccoli
WETLAND FORUM
The Voice of Gifu Citizens for
saving Peace, Human rights and Environment
Citizens’ Network for Biodiversity in Okinawa
Contact: Hideki Yoshikawa
Co-Director
Citizens’ Network
for Biodiversity in Okinawa
yhidekiy@gmail.com
CC: U.S. President, Barack Obama
U.S. Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter
U.S. Pacific Command Commander, Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III
U.S. Forces Japan Commander, Lt. Gen. Salavatore A. “Sam” Angelella
U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Caroline Bouvier Kennedy
Okinawa Prefecture Governor, Takeshi Onaga
Okinawa Prefectural Assembly Chair, Masaharu Kina
Nago City Mayor, Susumu Inamine
Nago City Assembly Chair, Minoru Yabiku
United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon
United Nations Human Rights Council
President, Joachim Rucker
Prime Minster, Shinzo Abe
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fumio
Kishida
Minster of Defense, Gen Nakatani
Minister of State for Okinawa and
Northern Territories Affairs,
Shunichi Yamaguchi
Media outlets
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