Universal Periodic Review on Japan is scheduled to start on 10:30 am (05:30 pm JST) today.
AOCHR is one of five Japanese NGO to make oral statement (briefing of one's reports submitted in April).
Please share our statement below and check out Twitter and Facebook for further info.
Twitter: @UPRinfo
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I am speaking on behalf of All Okinawa Council for Human Rights. We are an independent non-profit research group to document the continuing violation of human rights in Okinawa.
There are four statements I would like to talk about.
(1)The rights of the people of Ryukyu/Okinawa as indigenous people
(2) Infringement of freedom of peaceful assembly and expression
(3) Sexual assaults targeting women committed by U.S military members
(4) Infringement of the right to life, and physical and mental health
First, I would like to talk about the rights of the people of Ryukyu/Okinawa as indigenous people.
The concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee on Japan’s fifth periodic report clearly states that “the State party should expressly recognize the Ainu and Ryukyu/Okinawa as indigenous peoples in domestic legislation and adopt special measures to protect, preserve and promote their cultural heritage and traditional way of life, and recognize their land rights”. [1]
In addition, in its concluding observations on the reports of Japan, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) "expresses its concern about the persistent discrimination suffered by the people of Okinawa. The disproportionate concentration of military bases in Okinawa has a negative impact on residents’ ‘enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights."[2]
However, the Government of Japan refuses to recognize the people of Okinawa as indigenous people, and does not acknowledge their rights to land and natural resources. They do not give any special protection to them either. On the contrary, the Government of Japan forcibly continued with the construction of a new U.S. military base at Henoko, in the northern part of Okinawa,
The Governments of Japan and the United States made the decision without guaranteeing any effective participation of the people of Okinawa, completely ignoring the will of the local people and Okinawa Prefecture and all rights to engage in free, prior and informed consent.
These are four recommendations we would like to have your support for.
Infringement of freedom of peaceful assembly and expression
Despite the strong protest of local Okinawan people, the Government of Japan is pushing the construction of a new military base at Henoko forward. On a daily basis, the police, the riot police, and the Japan Coast Guard violently repress the peaceful protest at Henoko. They forcibly evacuate peaceful protesters. There have been incidents of interference and forcible removal of journalists reporting the protest activities.
Mr. David Kaye, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, shared his concern on the allegation of disproportionate restriction on public protest in Okinawa in his country report on Japan presented to the Human Rights Council in June this year. [3]
A notable example of disproportionate restriction is the case of Mr. Hiroji Yamashiro, a prominent Okinawan human rights defender. He was arrested multiple times on minor charges during base protest activities. He had been detained for five months under highly restrictive conditions without trial. He has been released from custody, but the Special Rapporteur expressed his concern that this government action could chill expression and particularly public protest and dissent.
Although the protestors’ freedom of expression and assembly were violated, the Government has not conducted any investigation, provided any compensation, or taken any action to address these human rights violations. They have not even made any effort to prevent further incidents.
These are the recommendations we would like to have your support for.
Sexual assaults targeting women committed by U.S military members
Since 1945, sexual assault cases targeting women have been committed and continued to threaten the safety of the women in Okinawa. In 1995, a sixth-grade girl was abducted and raped by three U.S military members. In May of 2016, a former U.S. military man raped, killed, and abandoned the body of a 20-year-old Okinawan woman.
Since the recovery of Okinawa from U.S. Occupation (1972) until 2015, there were nearly 6,000 crimes committed by United States military personnel, 129 of which were rape cases. However, as these numbers only include cases in which the assailant was officially placed under arrest, it is believed that the actual number of such cases is much larger. The existence of actual sexual assault and rape cases can be clearly established by looking at the survey responses of countless local women.
This is the recommendation we would like to have your support for.
Conduct a factual investigation of sexual assaults targeting women living in Okinawa committed by U.S military members.
Infringement of the right to life, and physical and mental health
Residents living around U.S military bases have severely suffered from excessive noise from aircrafts conducting training drills over the residential areas. Especially night time flight training has caused serious sleep disorders among residence including children.
Local residents filed a series of lawsuits against the Government of Japan. The rulings have confirmed the illegality of the excessive noise however, their requests to halt the night time operations of U.S. military aircraft have been all rejected.
The court ruling the lawsuit also recognized that the frequency of aircraft crashes and accidents has resulted in psychological distress among residents. Operations of the U.S. military bases have threatened and endangered the life and safety of the people of Okinawa. A U.S military helicopter crashed onto the campus of a University located next to a U.S military base in 2004 and U.S military aircraft Osprey crashed offshore of Nago city in 2016. Yesterday, a U.S military helicopter crushed into a village in the northern part of Okinawa.
However, despite the fact that local residents have been forced to live with such fear and excessive noise, the Government of Japan has not taken any effective measures to ensure the right to physical and mental health.
This is the recommendation we would like to have you support for.
Take measures to ensure the right to physical and mental health without discrimination.
The concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee on Japan’s fifth periodic report clearly states that “the State party should expressly recognize the Ainu and Ryukyu/Okinawa as indigenous peoples in domestic legislation and adopt special measures to protect, preserve and promote their cultural heritage and traditional way of life, and recognize their land rights”. [1]
In addition, in its concluding observations on the reports of Japan, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) "expresses its concern about the persistent discrimination suffered by the people of Okinawa. The disproportionate concentration of military bases in Okinawa has a negative impact on residents’ ‘enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights."[2]
However, the Government of Japan refuses to recognize the people of Okinawa as indigenous people, and does not acknowledge their rights to land and natural resources. They do not give any special protection to them either. On the contrary, the Government of Japan forcibly continued with the construction of a new U.S. military base at Henoko, in the northern part of Okinawa,
The Governments of Japan and the United States made the decision without guaranteeing any effective participation of the people of Okinawa, completely ignoring the will of the local people and Okinawa Prefecture and all rights to engage in free, prior and informed consent.
These are four recommendations we would like to have your support for.
Infringement of freedom of peaceful assembly and expression
Despite the strong protest of local Okinawan people, the Government of Japan is pushing the construction of a new military base at Henoko forward. On a daily basis, the police, the riot police, and the Japan Coast Guard violently repress the peaceful protest at Henoko. They forcibly evacuate peaceful protesters. There have been incidents of interference and forcible removal of journalists reporting the protest activities.
Mr. David Kaye, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, shared his concern on the allegation of disproportionate restriction on public protest in Okinawa in his country report on Japan presented to the Human Rights Council in June this year. [3]
A notable example of disproportionate restriction is the case of Mr. Hiroji Yamashiro, a prominent Okinawan human rights defender. He was arrested multiple times on minor charges during base protest activities. He had been detained for five months under highly restrictive conditions without trial. He has been released from custody, but the Special Rapporteur expressed his concern that this government action could chill expression and particularly public protest and dissent.
Although the protestors’ freedom of expression and assembly were violated, the Government has not conducted any investigation, provided any compensation, or taken any action to address these human rights violations. They have not even made any effort to prevent further incidents.
These are the recommendations we would like to have your support for.
Sexual assaults targeting women committed by U.S military members
Since 1945, sexual assault cases targeting women have been committed and continued to threaten the safety of the women in Okinawa. In 1995, a sixth-grade girl was abducted and raped by three U.S military members. In May of 2016, a former U.S. military man raped, killed, and abandoned the body of a 20-year-old Okinawan woman.
Since the recovery of Okinawa from U.S. Occupation (1972) until 2015, there were nearly 6,000 crimes committed by United States military personnel, 129 of which were rape cases. However, as these numbers only include cases in which the assailant was officially placed under arrest, it is believed that the actual number of such cases is much larger. The existence of actual sexual assault and rape cases can be clearly established by looking at the survey responses of countless local women.
This is the recommendation we would like to have your support for.
Conduct a factual investigation of sexual assaults targeting women living in Okinawa committed by U.S military members.
Infringement of the right to life, and physical and mental health
Residents living around U.S military bases have severely suffered from excessive noise from aircrafts conducting training drills over the residential areas. Especially night time flight training has caused serious sleep disorders among residence including children.
Local residents filed a series of lawsuits against the Government of Japan. The rulings have confirmed the illegality of the excessive noise however, their requests to halt the night time operations of U.S. military aircraft have been all rejected.
The court ruling the lawsuit also recognized that the frequency of aircraft crashes and accidents has resulted in psychological distress among residents. Operations of the U.S. military bases have threatened and endangered the life and safety of the people of Okinawa. A U.S military helicopter crashed onto the campus of a University located next to a U.S military base in 2004 and U.S military aircraft Osprey crashed offshore of Nago city in 2016. Yesterday, a U.S military helicopter crushed into a village in the northern part of Okinawa.
However, despite the fact that local residents have been forced to live with such fear and excessive noise, the Government of Japan has not taken any effective measures to ensure the right to physical and mental health.
This is the recommendation we would like to have you support for.
Take measures to ensure the right to physical and mental health without discrimination.
[1] CCPR/C/JPN/CO/5
18 December 2008, available at
https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/646529/files/CCPR_C_JPN_CO_5-EN.pdf
[2] CERD/C/JPN/CO/3-6 (06 Apr 2010),
available at http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CERD%2FC%2FJPN%2FCO%2F3-6&Lang=en
[3]
A/HRC/35/22/Add.1, available at
http://imadr.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/A_HRC_35_22_Add.1_AUV_Report-of-SR-on-freedom-of-opinion-and-expression-on-his-mission-to-Japan.pdf
