NO FOREIGN MILITARY BASES, A COMMITMENT TO PEACE

Speech for the Japanese Peace Conference

Paulina Ponce
Member of the No Bases International Network, the No Bases Coalition - Ecuador
and the Ecumenical Human Rights Commission (CEDHU).
November 2007, Japan Peace Conference, Okinawa, Japan

Compañeros and compañeras:

I come from Ecuador, in Latin America, to bring greetings to all of you and to the struggles that gather us today at the Japanese Peace Conference. I come with a message of peace and solidarity from the No Bases International Network, the No Bases Coalition in Ecuador and the Ecumenical Human Rights Commission.

I have prepared a paper that highlights key elements in the US military strategy and its impacts in Ecuador, particularly in Manta, where a military base is located. I will also share with you the experience of local, national and regional struggles against military bases and against militarism in general. Finally, I will speak about some work priorities agreed on by several peace movements at the International Conference for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases, held in Ecuador on March 2007.

1. US military strategy and the policy of military alliances: dangers, problems and contradictions

The US dependence on foreign oil is on the rise because of the growing energy demand by the largest consumer society in the world. By 2020, the US will import 66 per cent of overall world oil production.

The focus of US foreign policy and its military strategy are closely related to its energy policy, hence its interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq. The US defence policy has put behind nuclear deterrence and the atomic threat, and now aims to have an army that can fight simultaneously on several military fronts. To achieve this goal, the US must build up enemies, watch them, and threaten them. It must also protect and strengthen all information networks, and use all available technology to coordinate operations that can deliver accurate strikes. Soldiers are expected to be trained for these new scenarios. The US also needs to improve all its current available arsenal and train necessary human resources to prevail with its strategic and precision weapons.

Another crucial factor in this strategy is fear. The idea is that of creating a situation characterised by global insecurity, and persuading the world that terrorism is a common enemy. But this is not true. There are global problems that have been caused by the empire itself, such as global warming, whilst countries in the South have urgent and real problems to deal with, such as hunger, lack of access to health services, education, and basic infrastructure, amongst others.

As a result, the United States of America has become a rogue state. A state that believes it has the legitimacy to forcefully change any government it dislikes in any country. A state that creates centres to manipulate world public opinion, to spread lies. A state that ignores international institutions whenever it deems convenient, as is the case with the International Criminal Court, and that sabotages agreements for the planet’s preservation, such as the Kyoto Protocol, despite being the world’s largest polluter. A state that uses torture, as exemplified by Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib.

The United States is the only country in the world that has bombed civil populations in dozens of countries in four different continents. Its peculiar love for freedom often transforms itself into “smart bombs” that devastate towns, and into cluster bombs that only leave a trail of grief and destruction. The United States seeks the unilateral disarmament of the rest of the world, while expecting to keep increasing its own military power. It does not seek peace – it demands submission amidst the most terrible impunity.2
If we agree on the idea that the US is an empire, then it does not have allies, but vassals. Military alliances must therefore be understood in this sense.
The international instruments that allow the establishment of military policy are, on the one hand, financial tools – concentrated in the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and regional development banks – and, on the other, military alliances such as NATO, the Pact against International Terrorism, the Asian Defense Treaty, the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR), and several bilateral agreements. At the same time, the role and legitimacy of institutions such as the United Nations and the Organisation of American States has been eroded. Countries that oppose the US strategy are threatened with marginalisation if they do not accept the US conditions, and even run the risk of being classified as enemies. It has recently been suggested that all countries that have signed the International Criminal Court Treaty will not be considered for the sale of military munitions and supplies.
The US has created a false dilemma between human rights and security, because all rights enshrined in international treaties, such as the right to life or the right to not being tortured and to having a fair trial, are absolute and must be respected at all times, even in situations of public emergency. Human rights are not a hindrance to security, but the key to achieve it.

The US government is threatening all achievements in the field of human rights as well as harmony in international relationships, it is militarising its country and the world, and it is transforming its administration into a police state with unpredictable consequences.

2. The case of Ecuador: impact of the US military base in Manta

In Latin America, there are three Forward Operating Locations (FOL): El Salvador, Curaçao (in the Caribbean), and Manta (in Ecuador). These outposts were established to replace a base in Panama, which was handed back to the Panamanian authorities in 1999. The operations base is located in Key West, Florida, under the US Southern Command. 

In 1999, Ecuador and the US signed a 10-year agreement for the establishment of a FOL in the Ecuadorian Air Force base in Manta, where the US would conduct activities focused on gathering intelligence information and the war against drug trafficking in the region.

Nevertheless, since the agreement came into effect eight years ago, the US military operations in Manta have also targeted boats with migrants that were leaving the Ecuadorian coast, and local fishermen who have suffered at least 45 boardings by US military ships (even if, according to the official agreement, only the Ecuadorian Navy has the authority to undertake this kind of operations). Another indirect impact of the US military presence affects women and their bodies: the establishment of the military base has increased the number of night clubs and sex work, whose victims are girls and women.

Besides immunity, the US troops and personnel in the Manta base have amongst other privileges, tariff exemptions, the ability to import goods and services tax free, the freedom not to pay any taxes, and to enter without visas and passports. 

The Manta base hosts aircraft such as the E3 AWACS, the P-3 Orion, and the KC-135 Stratotanker for air, sea and land surveillance. The P-3 Orion, for example, depending on specific needs, can become a bomb and missile carrier. These airplanes can also fly over the sea and the coast in the Eastern Pacific and the Caribbean up to Florida. The base radars also allow the Americans to gather live intelligence information.

Since the agreement was signed, social and human rights organisations in Ecuador have denounced that one of the hidden aims of the Manta base is to give support for the implementation of Plan Colombia, which would entail regionalising the Colombian armed conflict. The FOL commander in Manta, Javier Delucca, said in August 2006: “Manta is very important within Plan Colombia. We are very well located to operate in that area”. In March 2007, he also declared: “We are not flying over Ecuadorian soil, but we are flying over Colombia, in coordination with a Colombian special military unit.”

The establishment of the Manta base is linked to the continuous and increasingly serious incidents led by the Colombian army in the Northern Ecuadorian border, which have resulted in dead and wounded Ecuadorian citizens, hundreds of Colombian refugees in the border provinces of Ecuador, severe damage to the population’s health and the environment because of aerial fumigations with glyphosate, and a spread of violence in the area.

There have also been warnings about the presence of companies who are hiring mercenaries. The report on Ecuador written by the UN Working Group about the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination recommended that the Ecuadorian government, amongst others, takes the following measure: “Complete promptly the investigations surrounding the PMSC [private military security company] ‘Epi Security and Investigations’.”

Besides EPI Security, we also find Dyncorp, the largest beneficiary of US military contracts for private military services over the last 50 years, and world-renowned for being the largest mercenary company. Dyncorp was hired by the Manta base to operate in the fields of air traffic control, civil engineering, logistic support, fire control, security, health coverage, accommodation and food services, etc. Dyncorp is also in charge of fumigation and surveillance tasks in Colombia.

The presence of the US army in Ecuador is not limited to the Manta base, which hosts an average of 300 troops. According to the US State Department: “Ecuador is the second country in the region, after Colombia, with the largest presence of US troops.” Ecuador is used as a military training ground in provinces such as Esmeraldas and Orellana.

According to the US Embassy in Ecuador, the Manta base injects an annual figure of US$ 6,5 million into the local economy, but this budget is allocated based on the operational costs derived from the missions undertaken by the military staff in the base. Therefore, far from having boosted development in Manta, the base has resulted in farmers losing their lands and fishermen losing their boats.

During the International Conference for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases held in Quito and Manta in March 2007, the US Embassy in Ecuador launched a media campaign to highlight the ‘success’ in drug interdiction operations. According to the US army, interdiction activities this year have been the most significant since 1999.
The government led by president Rafael Correa thinks that the US military presence does not benefit Ecuador and undermines its sovereignty, and it has declared it will not renew the current agreement, which will expire in November 2009. Sovereignty and peace are seriously threatened by the presence of US troops on Ecuadorian soil.
3. Anti-bases and peace movements in Ecuador and the region

In Latin America, movements are mobilising on several fronts. Besides leading anti-militarism and anti-bases campaigns, movements are opposing free trade agreements with the US and Europe, the privatisation of natural resources (mainly water and the construction of giant hydroelectric dams), and the impacts of mining and oil activities, to name but a few. The issue that probably demands a united front of many forces is the construction of mega-projects such as the South American Regional Infrastructure Integration Initiative (IIRSA), which seeks to create axes of transit which crisscross the continent for the extraction of natural resources, and which could potentially be used for troop flows.

Latin American movements also have other priorities, such as launching a campaign on the impending closure of the FOL in Ecuador and ensuring that another FOL is not established in the region; launching a campaign so that governments withdraw their troops from Haiti along with solidarity campaigns with the Haitian people; starting legal and lobbying efforts for the return of lands and goods, and for the compensation of populations affected by military bases and foreign troops; to boost the campaign for the closure of the School of the Americas, where Latin American troops are trained; reporting and denouncing the impacts of Plan Colombia on civil populations and organising an international observer mission in that country; opposing the establishment of military forces on the border of Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina; and boosting the campaign for the closure of the Guantanamo prison, well known for its serious human rights violations, including torture.

In Ecuador, the political juncture is certainly favourable to social movements, though it is impossible to foresee how long it will last. There are positive statements and proposals, such as the Strategic Plan, Planex 2020, a document issued by the Foreign Affairs Ministry and agreed on by all social forces declaring Ecuador a country for peace that will not host foreign troops. There is also Plan Ecuador, the Ecuadorian alternative to Plan Colombia, stating as its main principles: peace and cooperation as a system of co-existence among states, the rejection of foreign aggression, the principle of non-intervention in other countries’ internal affairs, and equality of sovereignty in relationships with neighbouring countries.

In Manta, the population has gradually joined the struggle against the military base. Civil mobilisation was in the beginning neutralised by promises of economic prosperity. Nevertheless, against the background of the base’s destructive impacts, and thanks to the work of local and national organisations, awareness on this issue has risen and has resulted in specific actions to reflect on and denounce abuses.

Organisations such as the Manabi Farmers Organisation (UPOCAM), the Tahali Movement, the Young Christians Association YMCA-Ecuador, the Regional Foundation for the Assessment of Human Rights (IREDH), the Anti-corruption Network, the Peace and Justice Service (SERPAJ), and many others have organised important demonstrations, public debates and cultural activities to raise awareness of the impacts of military bases.

The urgent need to prevent the agreement being renewed in 2009 led to the establishment of the No Bases Coalition - Ecuador, an alliance between national human rights organisations and local social movements who cooperate to get more visibility. One of its aims is to link the local struggle for the closure of the Manta base with the wider global struggle against foreign military bases. The International Conference for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases, held in Ecuador on 5-9 March 2007, was a key step for the national and international network against bases.

The No Bases Coalition - Ecuador has submitted a proposal before the special commission that will prepare a draft constitution for the National Constituent Assembly that will take place in November. The proposal seeks to include the following paragraph in the Constitution, under the “fundamental sovereignty principles” section:

“Ecuador is a land of peace and, pursuant to its sovereignty, will not host foreign military bases or troops, and will not adopt any agreement that implies other forms of foreign military presence. Ecuador will not militarily engage in other countries’ conflicts, be it unilaterally or in coordination with other states. It will not undertake military practices or exercises with other states. ”

The proposal was signed by 16 local and national organisations. Before the National Constituent Assembly takes place, the No Bases Coalition - Ecuador is actively working on raising public awareness to guarantee that the new Constitution will include the whole of the proposed text.

4. The significance and perspective of international cooperation and solidarity amongst movements on the basis of the results and experiences of the International No Bases Conference

We feel the grief, the death and the tears in Ecuador, Henoko, Afghanistan, Uganda, or Greece as our own, because every abuse is committed against humanity. Amidst the death represented by war, we are only left with solidarity amongst human beings and between peace and justice movements. That is our strength and what gives sense to our cooperation in solidarity.

After the International Conference for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases, we became fully aware of the need to come together in our struggle for justice, peace, the self-determination of peoples, and environmental sustainability; and to work on strengthening the No Bases International Network to denounce the impacts of military bases, to support local struggles that pursue the closure of bases and to prevent the establishment of new bases.

The strategic aims of the Network are: to strengthen and unite local and global movements against foreign military bases and other forms of military presence; to become a global actor generating common actions and influencing global public opinion; to establish a policy of alliances with similar organisations and networks that work for peace and justice all around the world.

Some of the highlights of our action plan are: developing a global watch organisation to work with academics on the study and public awareness of the impacts of foreign military troops and bases, and anti-bases struggles; political advocacy activities with non-governmental organisations and international institutions such as the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement; and to establish an international convention on the prohibition of foreign military bases.

During the Conference, several resolutions were passed on local and national struggles against foreign military bases (Vicenza in Italy, Colombia, Czech Peace Movement, Asia-Pacific Community).

One of those resolutions dealt with US bases in Japan and Okinawa, and it was presented by the Japanese Peace Committee, that expressed solidarity with Manta and with Japanese municipalities in their local struggles, particularly communities in Okinawa, Yokosuka, and Iwakuni, seriously affected by military bases and other forms of military presence. Today, I am bringing here from Ecuador, and on behalf of the No Bases International Network, our solidarity with all of you.

The biggest challenge lies ahead: opposing impunity without letting up in our struggle. It is urgent to act to reinforce regional and international mechanisms that can oversee the consequences of the ‘war on terror’. We must keep on struggling for the establishment of an efficient and independent international justice system. In this context, getting together to coordinate our actions to have an impact on our societies
and the world is vital. 

Force is never fair. Our challenge is momentous: to build humanity with justice and peace.

aloha sarayacu

NATIVE HAWAIIANS & CHAMORRO (GUAM) WARN AUSTRALIA OVER TALISMAN SABRE 2007

NATIVE HAWAIIANS & CHAMORRO (GUAM) WARN AUSTRALIA OVER TALISMAN SABRE 2007

Two indigenous Native Hawaiian activists and a Chamorro (GUAM) activist visiting Central Queensland expressed their shock and outrage at the destruction being inflicted on the local environment by the Talisman Sabre US/Australian joint military exercises.

“ We are appalled that there will be live firing, bombing and sonar testing on the Great Barrier reef and in the habitat of endangered dugong, whales and green turtles,” said Terri Keko’olani of DMZ Hawai’i Aloha ‘Aina.

Terri Keko’olani & Leimaile Quitevis from DMZ Hawaii Aloha ‘Aina and Fanai Castro from Guam (GUÅHAN) are in Australia to support the protest against the 30,000 strong US/Australia war games.

“We are also appalled at the complete indifference of the Australian Department of Defense in asserting that the war games will not be interrupted simply because 7 peace activists are occupying the military danger zone,” said Leimaile Quitevis

“The demands of the peace protestors include: stop the war games, no more military exercises, close the Shoalwater Bay base, and return the land to the indigenous people,” said Denis Doherty, national co-ordinator of the Australian Anti-Bases Campaign Coalition, one of the peace protest organizers.

“ In 1976 I occupied the island of Kaho’olawe to stop live bombing by the US military, said Terri Keko’olani. “ My heart goes out to June Norman, a 66 year old grandmother who is presently occupying the Shoalwater Bay training area to stop live bombing of an environment considered to be a world heritage treasure. “

Fanai Castro of the Organization of People for Indigenous Rights (OPI-R) added, “There is no justification for the toxic contamination of our lands and waters, therefore we uphold the actions demonstrated here to protect these precious resources.” She continued, “ This Peace action is significant in that it brings together a diversity of people who believe that, beyond war, another world is possible.”

Urgent Call for Henoko, Okinawa

"Japanese Government points gun at Okinawans for the first time since World War II."

According to news reports, the Japanese Government has dispatched the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force ship "Bungo" to Henoko, Okinawa. Bungo is a gun boat and minesweeper equipped with divers. It is reported the members of Maritime Self Defense Force will assist private contractors in the environmental "pre-survey" for the military off-shore base at Henoko.

The environmental assessment is an initiative of the Defense Facility Administration Bureau. Local groups and media, including T.V. Okinawa have noted that the Maritime Self Defense Force involvement in the Bureau's activity here is extremely unusual.

The details of the Maritime mission in Henoko remain unannounced. Although Yasuhisa Shiozaki, Chief Cabinet Secretary, said the Maritime Self Defense Force in Henoko is not tasked with suppression of local base opposition, Okinawans suffering from the U.S. presence and the Japanese government's discriminatory policies reacted with anger. In the early morning of May 14, about 300 people gathered at Henoko beach in the heavy rain. An 80 year-old man from Nago city did not hesitate to show his disapproval, "this act is a part of oppression against Okinawa by the Japanese military once again."

Mr. Natsume Taira, a chief of the local base opposition's canoe team remained confident , "We will continue to fight to stop the construction of the military base, which aims to kill people in this region and elsewhere."

The international anti-base community also has their eye on the people's struggle in Henoko. Ms. Corason Fabros from the International Network for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases, Ms. Debbie Quinata from the Guam indigenous people's movement, Ms. Jun Jungsuk from SPARK (Solidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea) all participated in the morning gathering in Henoko to deliver their strong solidarity, and pledged their support for the Henoko Struggle.

In the evening , some 100 people joined the "Abolition of Military Bases In Asia" event organized by the Okinawa Citizens Coalition for Peace, in Naha City. Mr. Hiroshi Ashitomi, co-president of the Conference Opposing Heliport Construction, said "This act clearly shows how desperate the Japanese government is to make the new U.S. military base in Henoko against the wishes of the Okinawan people. This is a mess, Japanese democracy is rotting away."

The reports indicate that the survey will start ON MAY 16, 2007


1. WE CALL ON YOU TO SEND YOUR MESSAGE OF DISAPPROVAL.
Email, Fax, Phone statements of disapproval to the Japanese Government sending Japan Maritime Self Defense Force(JMSDF) to Henoko.

Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF)
Tel: +81-3-3268-3111
Email: mso-cadv@ic.jmsdf.go.jp

Japan Defense Facility Administration Agency (Naha Bureau)
Email: mso-cadv@ic.jmsdf.go.jp
Tel: +81-98-868-0174
Fax: +81-98-866-3375

Ministry of Defense
Tel: +81-3-5366-3111
Email: infomod@mod.go.jp

Japan Coast Guard, 11 Region Headquarter
Tel: +81-98-867-0118
E-mail(I¡§(Bsoumu-11@kaiho.mlit.go.jp

U.S. Councilor Office, Naha, Okinawa
+81-98-876-4211

U.S. Embassy in Tokyo
Tel: +3-3224-5000

2. Send your solidarity message to Henoko people

Heiwa Shimin Renrakukai
(Citizens Coalition for Peace, Naha, Okinawa)
Fax:+81-98-885 8230

Conference Opposing Heliport Construction (Nago,Okinawa)
Fax: +81-980-53-6992

For further information contact:
Ms. Suzuyo Takazato (Citizens Coalition for Peace,Naha, Okinawa)
Mobile number: +81-90-3072-0672
Fax: +81-98-864-1539


3. Send Messages, Opinions, Contributions to newspapers in Japan:

Okinawa Newspapers (less than 400 words)

Okinawa Times opinion@okinawatimes.co.jp

Ryukyu Shimpo
koe@ryuukyushimpo.co.jp

Yomiuri
https://app.yomiuri.co.jp/form/index.php

Asahi
http://www.asahi.com/reference/form.html

Mainichi
https://form.mainichi.co.jp/toiawase/

Nihon Keizai (Nihon Business)
webmaster@nikkei.co.jp

Sankei
u-service@sankei.co.jp

Tokyo Shinbun
https://cgi2.chunichi.co.jp/tko/hotline/form.shtml

Nikkan Gendai
http://gendai.net/?m=infotoiawase

Shinbun Akahata
hensyukoe@jcp.or.jp

Kyodo Tsushin
feedback@kyodonews.jp

Jiji Tsushin
https://www2.jiji.com/f/enq/form.php?pid=company

NHK [less than 400 words]
https://www.nhk.or.jp/css/goiken/bangumi.html

Nihon TV
https://www1.ntv.co.jp/staff/form.html

Fuji TV
https://wwws.fujitv.co.jp/safe/red_mpl/response/res_form.cgi

TV Asahi Hodo Station
http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/hst/contents/opinion/index_see.html

TV Tokyo
https://www2.tv-tokyo.co.jp/main/goiken.php

Hawaii-Okinawa Alliance: Letter to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

April 27, 2007

Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe c/o Consulate General of Japan-Honolulu, Political Divison, 1742 Nu'uanu Ave. Honolulu, HI 96817

Dear Prime Minister Abe

This is an urgent appeal from Okinawa's friends in Hawai'i to the government of Japan calling for an immediate halt to the expansion of the U.S. military base in Henoko, Okinawa. We are shocked and outraged that the Japanese government has begun the marine survey for construction around Henoko Point despite the overwhelming opposition of the local residents.

We call on the Japanese government to respect the human rights of the people of Okinawa and immediately cease all activities related to the expansion of the U.S. military base in Henoko.

On April 18, 2007, we requested the consultative document submitted by the Japanese Defense Facilities Administration Bureau to the Okinawa Prefecture government regarding the marine survey. To date, the Japanese government has refused to release these documents that are essential to understanding the impacts of the project.

Instead the consulate staff told us to submit a freedom of information request, which is simply ridiculous. The project would be too far along, or even completed when, and if we ever received the documents. The fact that these plans have been made in secret without public review or input demonstrates contempt for the residents of Henoko.

We demand that all plans related to the military base expansion in Henoko be made public and that the Okinawan people be given decision making powers over those matters that will affect them.

Furthermore, our Chamoru brothers and sisters on Guam will be devastated by the proposed relocation of U.S. troops to their island. We demand that Japan not support or pay for the relocation of U.S. troops to Guam.

The dangerous remilitarization of Japan and the submission of the Japanese government to the demands of the U.S. military will forever be a mark of shame and dishonor on Japan in the eyes of the world. We urge you to choose the path of peace and to heed the Okinawan proverb: "Nuchi du takara" - Life is most precious.

Aloha,

The Hawai'i Okinawa Alliance

Hawaii-Okinawa Alliance: Solidarity action to stop Henoko military expansion

Today the Hawai'i Okinawa Alliance and a number of groups in Honolulu held a solidarity action for Henoko at the Japanese Consulate in Honolulu.

We held signs and picketed in front of the Consulate. We made one giant sign cut out in the shape of a Dugong with the words: "Peace for Okinawa, Nuchi du takara, Save the Dugong and No U.S. Military Bases".

Several weeks ago, we had requested a meeting with the Consul General and the consultative document prepared by the Japanese Defense Facilities Administration Bureau describing the activities of the pre-survey and survey for construction of the U.S. military base expansion at Henoko. The Consulate denied both requests.

So we showed up in person and requested to meet the consulate staff. This time Yamada-san came out to talk with us. They tried to shoo us off their property, but we maintained that we had official business and stood our ground. Yamada offered to meet with two persons inside, away from the media, but we said that we would like everyone to hear and participate in the discussion. He seemed quite shaken by the action. Last time we tried to talk with them, they were quite dismissive of our small delegation. We told them at that time that we were offended by the lack of respect and that "We'll be back."

We read the message to Prime Minister Abe aloud and handed it to Yamada to deliver to the Japanese national government.

Yamada said he would convey our message to the government. We asked when we might hear a reply, but he was noncommittal. I gave him a red ribbon as he left.

Then, on cue, everyone fanned out in the parking area and began tying hundreds of red ribbons inscribed with solidarity and peace messages onto the consulate fence. The security guard scurried around in vain to try to stop us but soon the fence was aflutter with red messages of resistance, solidarity and hope. We told them that these were prayers for peace and that the red color referred to the red card in soccer signifying that the player is out of the came. We told them to convey these to the Japanese government as well.

Mahalo to AFSC Hawai'i, DMZ-Hawai 'i / Aloha 'Aina, Anakbayan - Honolulu, Not In Our Name Hawai'i, Kapakaukau, Save UH / Stop UARC coalition, the Korea Truth Commission in Hawai'i, and the Hawai'i People's Fund, all of whom helped organize and sent representatives to the action.

In addition to a television station, a reporter from the Okinawa Times was there to do a story.

Henoko: Call for urgent action

Almost immediately after the victory of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party candidate in the by-election for an Upper House seat on April 22nd, the Japanese government started the process of building a military facility in Henoko with a determination.

On April 24th, the Japanese Defense Facilities Administration Agency (Naha Bureau) and the Japan Coast Guard began “pre-survey” of the Marine survey of the proposed area for the new military facility in Henoko. The Rev. Natsume Taira and others in Henoko have been staging non-violent action to protest and stop the survey, but the JDFAA ships and divers far outnumbered the protestors and their canoes and boats.

JDFAA characterizes this on-going “pre-survey” as an examination of the present conditions of the area with regard to coral reef, Dugong, and other marine life. But this procedure violates the environmental assessment law that stipulates disclosure of construction methods and examination of the adequacy of the methods before finalizing the construction methods. It is only after then, such environmental survey of present conditions can be conducted. As the items of this on-going “pre-survey” seem to include what actual environmental survey of present conditions is required to examine, the adequate procedure of full and appropriate environmental assessment may not be taken in the future. Conducting this “pre-survey” undermines environmental assessment itself.

The Japanese government refused to disclose details of this “pre-survey.” Construction of the military facility in Henoko can be carried out without public scrutiny, ignoring democratic participation, and even the rights of the national Diet and Okinawa Prefectural Assembly to check.

People in Henoko are mounting their protest actions very carefully because they do not want anyone, including those divers hired by the government, to be injured. But on the first day of the survey, the JDFAA forced to conduct observation survey under bad weather, endangering the safety of their divers. It shows the Japanese government’s disrespect of human lives.

Today, April 27th, it is reported that the JDFAA completed the observation survey. It is now anticipated that after a series of national holidays of Golden Week, on May 7th, they will start to install survey equipments in the area.

This survey has to be stopped!

Please send your protest messages to Japan Defense Facility Administration Agency (Naha Bureau)
Fax number: +81-98-866-3375

Please send your support messages to people of Henoko.

Heiwa Shimin Renrakukai (Citizens Coalition for Peace, Naha, Okinawa)
Fax:+81-98-885 8230
Conference Opposing Heliport Construction (Nago, Okinawa)
Fax: +81-980-53-6992

Kozue Akibayashi
EA-US-Puerto Rico Women's Network Against Militarism (Japan)