Okinawa Prefectural Assembly demands removal of US Marines from Okinawa

　　　On the morning of May 17, the Prefectural Assembly adopted a resolution of protest in regards to the recent incident of the body of a woman being dumped by a U.S. base employee.
Okinawa Prefectural Assembly demands removal of US Marines from Okinawa

May 27, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

At an extraordinary session of the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly opened on May 26, both the ruling party in the Assembly and those belonging to other parties unanimously agreed on a resolution of protest and a written argument against the recent incident of a woman’s body being dumped by a military base employee. The resolution and argument demand an apology and full reparations to the bereaved family of the woman, abandonment of the plan to build a relocation facility for Futenma Air Station in Henoko, and withdrawal of the U.S. Marine Corps from Okinawa. This is the first time the Prefectural Assembly has made a resolution demanding the withdrawal of the Marine Corps. LDP members as well as Hikaru Minei (independent) and Hiroshi Goya (independent) did not participate in the vote on the resolution and argument.

Part of the written argument states that the base employee’s brutal act makes light of Okinawan citizens’ lives, and such acts absolutely cannot be permitted. The argument also calls for (1) an apology and full reparations to the bereaved family, (2) negotiations with Japanese and American heads of state concerning countermeasures to military base issues, accidents and incidents, (3) abandonment of relocation of Futenma Air Station within Okinawa, (4) withdrawal of the U.S. Marines from Okinawa and substantial reduction of bases, (5) drastic revision of the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement, (6) and a temporary suspension be enforced on access to civilian areas by training drills, military personnel, and military vehicles when a violent incident occurs.

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Press Release: President Obama Asked to Stop U.S. Military Project That Threatens Endangered Dugong

Center for Biological Diversity made a press release.

For Immediate Release, May 26, 2016

Contact: Peter Galvin, (707) 986-2600, pgalvin@biologicaldiversity.org

President Obama Asked to Stop U.S. Military Project That Threatens Endangered Dugong

OKINAWA, Japan― During President Obama’s visit to Japan for the G-7 summit, the Center for Biological Diversity called on him to abandon his controversial plan to build a large new military base in biologically rich and sensitive Henoko and Oura Bay. The bay is home to the dugong ― a marine mammal related to manatees that is an ancient cultural icon in Okinawa ― and other endangered species. That project is strongly opposed by residents of the island, which has had a huge U.S. military presence since the end of World War II, and that opposition was galvanized by the recent murder of a young Okinawan woman, allegedly by a U.S. military contractor, for which Obama was publicly rebuked Wednesday by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

“Our large and lingering military presence has enraged the Okinawan people and now it’s threatening the dugong with extinction. President Obama should use his visit to Japan to abandon this controversial, ill-considered project,” said Peter Galvin, director of programs for the Center. “The people and wildlife of Okinawa need a chance to recover from our 44-year occupation of that biologically rich island.”

The military base project was approved with inadequate environmental review after being pushed through by the U.S. and Japanese national governments. Okinawan Gov. Takeshi Onaga last year withdrew local consent for the project, which is currently on hold pending a political resolution. The Center for Biological Diversity and other groups are challenging the project and that case is now before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“Okinawa dugongs are barely hanging on, a sad fact that the approval process for this project ignored. We stand with the Okinawan people in calling for a real environmental review and respect for local concerns,” Galvin said. “We shouldn’t let the U.S. military continue to trash the Okinawa area or our relationship with its people.”

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

Vigil to Coincide with President Obama’s Visit, Okinawan Governor’s Request to Meet

from CODEPINK: Women For Peace


Vigil to Coincide with President Obama’s Visit, Okinawan Governor’s Request to Meet

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WHEN: Thursday, May 26 at 5:30 PM
WHERE: Union Station, Washington, D.C., across from the Old Post Office-- next to metro entrance!
WHAT: A die-in and silent vigil for Okinawan women who have experienced violence due to the U.S. military base in their homeland, as well as all women, children, and families worldwide who have been affected by U.S. military imperialism.
VISUALS: Staging a die-in with people covered in bloody cloth wearing signs.

CODEPINK will gather this Thursday, May 26, 2016, outside of Union Station in Washington D.C. to hold a silent vigil in protest of the U.S. military’s ongoing presence in Okinawa, Japan, and the crimes that U.S. military personnel have been committing against the island’s women for more than 70 years. The peace vigil will be held in silence to reflect the silence felt by women around the world because of violence perpetrated by staff of U.S. military bases in the countries they occupy.

On April 28, a former U.S. Marine and current civilian employee of the U.S. military base in Okinawa raped and murdered a 20-year-old Okinawan woman and confessed to the crimes on Saturday, just days ahead of President Obama’s visit to Japan, prompting Okinawan Governor Takeshi Onaga to request a meeting with the President to discuss the violence committed by U.S. military men working at the base.

Okinawa houses about two-thirds of the 50,000 U.S. troops currently stationed in Japan, and a large majority of Okinawans have opposed the bases’ continued presence in their homeland, due mostly to the high frequency of sexually violent crimes perpetrated by base personnel against Okinawan women.

The vigil will honor the memory of the recent death and all the women who for over 70 years have been subjected to the horrors of sexual violence committed by Americans occupying Okinawa.

Vigil organizers are available for interviews. Contact Alice Kurima Newberry at alice@codepink.org or 202-248-2093.

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