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STATEMENT:

The International Women’s Network Against Militarism stands with the people of Okinawa in opposing the construction of a new offshore facility at Camp Schwab, a US Marine Corps base near Henoko in northern Okinawa. We condemn the continued violation of Okinawan people’s self-determination by the United States and Japan, as shown in several recent events.

On June 25, 2024, Okinawan media reported that, six months earlier, US Air Force Corporal Brennon Washington had kidnapped and sexually assaulted a girl under the age of 16. He was indicted on March 27. The Japanese government was aware of this incident, but did not report it to the Okinawan prefectural government. Subsequent reports revealed at least six cases of sexual violence committed by US forces in Okinawa between 2023 and June 2024 (different sources quote different numbers). There is always a gap between sexual assault and indictment because victims may not report these incidents due to feelings of shame, and prosecution of these crimes is difficult. Military sexual violence is a flashpoint issue in Okinawa as US troops have abused and violated Okinawan women and girls since the United States appropriated land for bases following World War II. We suspect that the US and Japanese governments covered up these cases to avoid public outcry that would get in the way of the enforced military build-up for the US military and Japan’s Self Defense Forces.

Okinawan people have protested base expansion at Henoko for over 20 years, currently through nonviolent direct action to block trucks carrying construction materials into the base. Regrettably, a security guard was killed and a protester was hurt in a traffic accident on June 29, 2024. This death is very unfortunate, but the protesters cannot be blamed for it. The police, contractors, truck drivers, and security guards all know that protests are happening. This fatal accident was likely due to the lack of safety measures, and, as protesters report, because construction workers and security guards have become more aggressive. We support the right of Okinawan protesters to conduct nonviolent direct action. What else can they do when the two governments have ignored their opposition for so long? Okinawan people have elected anti-base candidates, held countless rallies and demonstrations, written letters, signed petitions, brought lawsuits, taken to the sea and occupied test-drilling platforms. Elected officials, community leaders, and business people have pressed their case repeatedly with Japanese officials in Tokyo, members of Congress in Washington, and appealed to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Okinawan people’s efforts to avert this increased militarization of their islands are nothing less than heroic.

After years of preparatory work, test drilling, and delays, reinforcement of the seabed started on August 20, 2024. The seabed is too soft to take the weight of the proposed facility without reinforcement on an unprecedented scale. This involves driving about 70,000 steel pipes into the seabed at depths of 70 meters (230 feet), then pouring soil and sand into the sea. The construction process is expected to take at least twelve years at a projected cost to the Japanese government of 930 billion yen ($6.4 billion), 2.7 times the original estimate, but both time frame and cost may increase. Environmental experts have said this plan will not work, but the Japanese government has gone ahead anyway. In the meantime, the US military keeps Futenma Marine Corps Air Station located in a crowded urban area. The United States promised to return this base to Okinawa’s control on condition that it was replaced by a new facility at Henoko. Okinawan people opposed this plan and demanded the return of Futenma without replacement. We condemn the highhanded and anti-democratic process by which the two governments have forced this new facility for US Marines onto the Okinawan people.

Also, we denounce the environmental devastation caused by military operations in Okinawa. This includes the destruction of Oura Bay for the new facility as well as fires, unexploded ordnance, noise, plane crashes, depleted uranium tests, and other destructive actions in occupied Okinawan lands. Most recently, the drinking water supply has been found to be contaminated by PFAS, leaking from military waste sites. These “forever chemicals” are used in products that resist water, stains, and heat, including fire retardants. They do not break down naturally and are linked to severe health problems affecting people and the environment. The US Environmental Protection Agency established limits of four parts per trillion (4ppt) for PFOA or PFOS—two common PFAS compounds—for drinking water in the United States, but levels in Okinawa water samples are hundreds, even thousands of times higher.

Militarism cannot guarantee everyday security for people or the planet, but constantly undermines it. We join Okinawan people in demanding that the Japanese government apologize for its mishandling of sexual crimes committed by US forces, and help to restore respect for victims’ human rights and dignity, including compensation. US forces must be held accountable for these crimes. The US military must conduct research on sexual violence against women and girls living around US bases abroad and intervene to stop it. Military violence in Okinawa is replicated across the Asia-Pacific region: in South Korea, the Philippines, Hawai’i, and Guam. Also, the US military must test and clean up toxic wastes before these are released from US bases. We demand that the United States remove all military bases and facilities from Okinawa, Japan, and the wider region, and prioritize everyday security that does not rely on military power.

Signers: