BAN CALLS FOR DIVERTING OVER-FUNDED WEAPONS BUDGETS TO DEVELOPMENT

"The world is over-armed, and development is under-funded," said United Nations Secretary General Ban-ki Moon, in his address to the General Assembly during a thematic debate on disarmament and world security held on April 19.

"These priorities should be reversed", he added. "By accelerating disarmament, we can liberate the resources we need to combat climate change, address food insecurity and achieve the Millennium Development Goals" and other global challenges.

Mr. Ban's remarks come a few weeks before the beginning of the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference being held in May. So "now is the moment to build on that momentum," he insisted.

General Assembly President Ali Abdussalam Treki from Libya also referred to the recent momentum, but stressed the need to address the threat posed by other types of weapons, including conventional ones. "It is also fundamental for the international community to seriously address the production, use, export and import of conventional weapons, including small arms and light weapons," he said, (...) [as they] fuel conflicts every day around the world and constantly threaten international peace and security."

Following the debate, UNGA President Ali Treki met with the President of the Security Council for April, Takasu Yukio of Japan, to discuss important issues on their respective agendas and underlined that the thematic debate on disarmament held in the General Assembly on the same day was significant and timely. For his part, Ambassador Takasu briefed Dr. Treki about the Security Council Open Debate held earlier this month on Post-conflict Peacebuilding. They also discussed the forthcoming Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) summit in September.

The Global Article 9 Campaign welcomes these comments in support of Disarmament for Development and calls on governments to reconsider their spending priorities, reduce their military expenses and reallocate part of their military budget into sustainable development, human security and peace.

DAY OF ACTION FOR A BASE-FREE OKINAWA

On April 25, tens of thousands of people gathered in Okinawa from all over the prefecture, Japan and beyond to call for the early closure of the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, the return of the land, and to oppose the construction of an alternative base elsewhere in Okinawa.

 

This day of action has been called for by a coalition of well-known Japanese individuals, including university professors, authors, artists, lawyers, educators, commentators, musicians and Japanese NGOs.

Media reports estimate that close to 100,000 people convened in Yomitan, Okinawa. Among them figured local leaders and representatives of all major parties, including Okinawa Governor Nakaima Hirokazu, Mayors from Nago, Ginowan and Uruma, as well as Policy Chief of the DPJ's coalition partner Social Democratic Party Abe Tomoko.

 

Simultaneous actions for a base-free Okinawa were held simultaneously all over Japan (including in Tokyo, where  1200 people gathered for a candle event, Nagoya, Kyoto, Oita, Nagano, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Osaka, Hiroshima, Nagano, and Ueda) and the US (including in Washington D.C., San Francisco and Hawaii) to join voices together with Okinawa in solidarity to oppose new base construction in Okinawa.

 

The events took place days after rumors claimed the Japanese government would accept the US plan to relocate the Futenma US Air Station to another part of Okinawa, despite earlier indications to the contrary. In fact, during the electoral process that brought the Democratic Party of Japan to power, Hatoyama Yukio had pledged to suspend the relocation plan and suggested the Futenma base should be moved out of Okinawa and even Japan.

 

Members of the Network for Okinawa, which is made of representatives from US and international peace groups, environmental organizations, faith-based organizations, academia, and think tanks, issued a Solidarity Statement expressing their support to the people of Okinawa and demanding the closure of the Futenma US Marine Base and opposition to any new military base construction in Okinawa and Tokunoshima Island.

 

In the statement, they "appeal to Prime Minister Hatoyama to keep his promise to the Okinawan people and honor their rejection of any new construction in Camp Schwab." Further, they "call upon President Obama, as the commander-in-chief of the US military, to honor the Okinawan democratic decision to remove the US Futenma Marine base out of their prefecture and their call for no further US military base construction."

 

US Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich joined his voice to the day of action by issuing a message of solidarity with the Japanese people. In his statement, he announced that he "sent a letter to the Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, expressing [his] concern over the plan to move the US Marine Corps Air Station in Futenma, Okinawa, Japan to Nago" and reiterated his "support [to] the efforts of the people of Okinawa to ensure that their concerns are heard in the Congress of the United States, and to advocate for the preservation of their land and environment."

At the regional level, the Steering Committee for the Northeast Asia Regional Peacebuilding Institute (NARPI) expresses "its solidarity to the Okinawan people (...) [and] support for their call for peace, demilitarization and respect for the will of the people. In a statement, NARPI referred to Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution as a "viable alternatives to shift from military security to human security" towards "the creation of a demilitarised, sustainable peace for Northeast Asia."

Earlier this month, US for OKINAWA successfully completed a four-day study program in Okinawa to experience firsthand US military bases and their impact on the people and the environment of Okinawa.

Participants to the program were shocked at the large swathe of land the military sites occupy and their proximity to schools and habitations. 

 

Indeed, all of these US bases are surrounded by adjacent facilities - including training grounds, military personnel housing units (many of them standing empty), ammunition storage areas, shopping complexes, clubhouses, golf courses, guest houses, and schools just for US military personnel and their families. They are taking up vast tracts of land and are hardly populated. Meanwhile, the local people squeeze homes and businesses into the remaining free areas and bears with the noise as well as the fear of an aircraft accident occurring in the area, as it happened in Ginowan in 2004.

 

Participants met with local activists and authorities involved in opposing US bases, and learned about the history of their non-violent struggle. They participated in a peace candle night in front of Camp Schwab, standing up for justice, democracy, peace and environmental sustainability in Okinawa.

 

Throughout the program, participants voiced their demand to close Futenma and their opposition to its relocation anywhere else inside or outside Japan. Instead, they called for peace and security to be developed through non-militaristic means, including through the creation of an East Asian Community, the establishment of a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone, and the promotion of peace constitutions in the region.  

 

As a positive action aimed at encouraging their governments to replace the US-Japan Security Treaty with a US-Japan Peace and Friendship Treaty, participants decided to initiate a symbolic treaty at the citizen level.

 

The Global Article 9 Campaign has been working hand-in-hand with the people of Okinawa and the anti-base movement.

 

For more information about the study program, anti-base initiatives and activities, visit US for OKINAWA's website here.

 

Read the Solidarity Statement by the Network for Okinawa here.

 

Find US Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich's statement on his website, here.

Visit the Northeast Asia Regional Peacebuilding Institute (NARPI) website here.