Policemen's Violence in Okinawa) What US citizens can do for TAKAE
2016/07/25
yuntakutakaehelipadmap2015english
Shared by ANKEI Yuji from Project Disagree
http://www.projectdisagree.org/2016/07/what-us-citizens-can-do-for-takae.html
What US citizens can do for TAKAE
Map: by Yuntaku Takae
http://helipad-verybad.org/
Dear US citizens and friends who are our global counterparts,
This letter is sent to you because the situation described below suffers
Okinawa eventually for the sake of the United States.
This week, the Japanese government sent hundreds of riot squads from mainland
Japan to Takae, a tiny district with a population of 160 people that is
surrounded by the richly biodiverse mountains of Yanbaru. Located in the
northern part of Okinawa Island, Takae sits right next to the Northern
Training Area (NTA), officially known as the US Marine Corps Jungle Warfare
Training Center. Activists have gathered to protest the construction of the
US Marine Corps’ (USMC) helipads (landing zones) in NTA. But the current
suppression by the Japanese riot squads of these non-violent protesters seems
like an ution of martial law.
Since the summer of 2007, when the Japanese government neglected the
opposition and forcibly preceded with the construction, a handful of Takae
residents started their non-violent sit-in action in front of the gates of
the construction site. Soon, it grew to become a larger direct action. People
supported and came to join from various parts of Okinawa and mainland Japan
as well as from all over the world.
SACO 1996
The onset of today’s uproar began in 1996, when U.S. and Japanese governments
signed the agreement in relation to the U.S. military installations in
Okinawa. It was called SACO agreement, the abbreviation of “the Special
Action Committee on Okinawa.” The SACO Final Report said, “The two
Governments launched the SACO process to reduce the burden on the people of
Okinawa and thereby strengthen the Japan-US alliance.” And the eleven plans
were listed “to realign, consolidate and reduce US facilities and areas, and
adjust operational procedures of US forces in Okinawa consistent with their
respective obligations under the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security
and other related agreements.” Most appealing one might be the relocation
plan of USMC Futenma Air Station. As the SACO Report put it: “return Futenma
Air Station within the next five to seven years, after adequate replacement
facilities are completed and operational.” During the 20-year long twisted
and winding process, it was revealed as the ”Henoko Plan.” It proposed a new
land-fill base with the V-shape runways and facilities including a military
port on the sea of Henoko.
The other major plan of the land handover concerned the Northern Training
Area. As the condition for the handover of the 3,987ha (or 9,852 acres) of
the land within the NTA, the Japanese government accepted the relocation of
”helicopter landing zones” from the areas of handover to the remaining part
of the Northern Training Area. Why did the US not just return the entire
land? For what reason do they require the extra landing zones even when it
would still remain the existing 15 landing pads after the return of the land?
No explanations were offered to the residents. The relevant documents of the
SACO are still undisclosed, and so we cannot understand why and how the
Japanese government negotiated and approved these conditions in the end.
US-JP MANIPULATION OF HENOKO & TAKAE
On July 20, 2016, just a day before the raid by the riot squad in Takae, the
Okinawa Times, one of the local newspapers, reported that US Pacific
Commander Admiral Harry Harris, Jr. had informed the US Senate Committee on
Armed Services (Chair. John McCain) in February of this year about his
perspective on the construction of helipads in the NTA. Commander Harris
reported to the Senate Committee that the construction of the new helipads in
NTA would be completed within this year, which would help to calm down the
tention among the local people who have been opposing the Henoko Plan, the
Okinawa Times wrote.
US-JP military interests have intentionally tied the construction of new
military facilities to the promise of the partial land handover, “relocation”
of the “helipads,” for example, in the case of Takae. They then insisted
that these would help ”reduce the burden of Okinawa.”
Yes, this is the true reason of the turbulent 20 years after the SACO. Both
Japanese government and US forces have enthusiastically manipulated to
connect the return of the land with the intensification and strengthening of
the US military facilities in Okinawa. And the past 20 years make the
situation much worse. Today, US-JP military interests try to link the
individual construction projects as the condition for each other.
The Japanese government urged Okinawa Prefecture to compromise and accept the
helipads construction in Takae in the midst of the intensive mutual
consultation between Tokyo and Okinawa regarding the Henoko Plan. Flip side
of the same coin is the US military officials who informed the US Congress
that the fulfillment of the helipad construction plan in the NTA would lead
to solve the current deadlock concerning the Henoko Plan.
Enough is enough
No way. Enough is enough. People living in Okinawa are demanding the
immediate withdrawal of US. Forces and the release of the land to the people
without any conditions whatsoever.
On top of the growing sentiments of rage and mourning after the rape and
murder of a woman by the ex-marine suspect in this May, the Okinawa
Prefectural Assembly signed the resolution to demand withdrawal of the U.S.
Marine Corps from Okinawa for the first time after the US occupation in 1945.
And in response to the current suppression of Takae protesters by the
Japanese riot squads, the Prefectural Assembly finally passed the resolution
to protest against the forcible construction of helipads in Takae and demand
the immediate cease of it.
WHAT YOU CAN DO FROM YOUR PLACE: VOICE TAKAE
Tell the truth to the President of the United States, claim to the Congress
members to report about what the US has done to the island and the people of
Okinawa.
This is the violation of human rights and democracy of the people of Okinawa,
by using the hands of the Japanese Government, for the sake of the United
States.
Take your responsibility and free Okinawa.
Spread our hope.
REFERENCE
The English version of the Ryukyu Shimpo, one of the local newspapers in
Okinawa, is a good source for information relevant to the anti-military
struggles in Takae, Henoko, and elsewhere in Okinawa.
”Tensions between protesters and riot police mount over construction of U.S.
Marine Corps helipads in Takae,” July 12, 2016
http://english.ryukyushimpo.jp/2016/07/17/25465/
”Editorial: Governor should declare opposition to resumption of Takae helipad
construction,” July 13, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo
http://english.ryukyushimpo.jp/2016/07/19/25469/
”Riot squad sent to subdue Takae protesters similar in scale to that sent to
eradicate yakuza gangsters,” July 18, 2016
http://english.ryukyushimpo.jp/2016/07/20/25476/
”Special Feature: Okinawa holds mass protest rally against US base,” June 19,
2016. (Specially issued for the Okinawa Mass Protest Rallies protesting the
rape and murder case.)
http://english.ryukyushimpo.jp/special-feature-okinawa-holds-mass-protest-rally-against-us-base/
Okinawa Prefectural Assembly demands removal of US Marines from Okinawa May
27, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo
http://english.ryukyushimpo.jp/2016/05/30/25142/
Takae resolution of Okinawa Prefectural Assembly (only in Japanese)
＜高江ヘリパッド意見書全文＞『琉球新報』2016年7月22日12：11。
http://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/entry-321180.html
Okinawa Times article on US commander’s report to the Senate Committee (only
in Japanese)
「高江ヘリパッド工事「年内に終了」米司令官が上院軍事委に伝達」『沖縄タイムス』2016年7月20日。
[“Construction of helipads in Takae ‘will complete within this year’: US
commander reported to the Senate Armed Services Committee,” Okinawa Times
July 20, 2016.]
http://www.okinawatimes.co.jp/article.php?id=179160
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