Expose Government’s Injustices via Okinawa Governor’s UN Speech

Okinawa Gov.Takeshi Onaga is expected to give a speech at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland in September about the issues that surround the construction of the new U.S. military base. This is an opportunity to show the world how the Japanese government unjustly tramples on Okinawan citizens’ rights and will rouse international public opinion toward preventing construction of the new base.

The Shima Gurumi Association is cooperating with a U.N. nongovernmental organization to secure time for the speech. It has been making arrangements for Onaga to speak at the U.N. in hopes that pressure from the international community will prompt the U.S. and Japanese governments to change their military base policies.

The power of international public opinion is needed in order to put an end to the government’s human rights violations, as demonstrated in cases of excessive police force at Henoko Bay.

The Abe administration is not trying to understand the popular opinion against construction of the new base and is instead attempting to use brute force to crush it. We must look harshly upon the Abe administration’s discriminatory and unconcerned attitude toward Okinawans’ human rights.

Previous governors have also tried to talk directly to the U.S. and resolve the military base issues in Okinawa. They have been unsuccessful, however, because the Japanese government has not attempted to listen to the complaints of Okinawan citizens. The Japanese government has likely used the ideas of local governmental autonomy and right of self-determination to justify its actions.

A local nonprofit organization called the Association of Indigenous Peoples in the Ryukyus first brought these military base and human rights issues to the U.N. in 1999. It hoped to resolve these problems and, indeed, is showing signs of progress.

In 2008, through this initiative, the UNHRC recommended that the Japanese government “should expressly recognize the Ainu and Ryukyu/Okinawa as indigenous peoples […] and recognize their land rights.” (SEE HERE)

In 2010, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination advised the Japanese government to take appropriate measures since it found that, “The disproportionate concentration of military bases on Okinawa has a negative impact on residents’ enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights.”*

A report from the UNHRC’s Universal Periodic Review session held in May this year also recommended that the U.S. address its military bases, which infringe on the rights of Okinawan citizens.

By continuing to ignore these reports, the U.S. and Japanese governments both show a disconcerting lack of sincerity. They should adopt the U.N.’s suggestions by immediately ceasing construction of the new base and settling the human rights violations involved.

In 1962, Okinawa’s legislature appealed to the international community to restore Okinawa’s sovereignty. It passed a resolution that cited the U.N.’s “Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples” and criticized U.S. colonial rule. Governor Onaga should take this series of events into consideration when presenting the wishes of the Okinawan people to the United Nations.

*Editor’s note: The original quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.