United Nations Responds to White House Petition to Save Henoko, Okinawa

United Nations Responds to White House Petition to Save Henoko, Okinawa
June 5, 2019 For immediate release
はいさい　ちゅー　うがなびら、
I am writing to inform you that on June 4, 2019 I received a response via email from the United Nations Human Rights Council regarding the White House petition to save Henoko, Okinawa. I had originally submitted the petition, along with an official complaint to the Council, first on February 13, 2019 via post mail and then on February 16 via email.
Then as already announced, I, along with Catherine Jane Fisher, will be speaking with the UN Human Rights Council in person from June 24-28. Attached below is a copy of the email response from the Human Rights Council, along with the original complaint and the documents of further readings I sent.
I am pleased that the United Nations Human Rights Council appears to be taking the matter seriously. My advisor in the United Nations has informed me that the Council does not respond to all of the complaints it receives, so a response is a very positive sign, and that they are asking for more specifics so that they can conduct a credible investigation into the matter.
The response from the Human Rights Council asks for more information regarding the domestic attempts to solve the issue (i.e., attempts by activists, attempts by the Okinawa Prefecture Government, etc). The UN has requested this information be sent as soon as possible. Therefore, anyone who has anything they would like included, please send it to me immediately for review.
Please note that my complaint was not only about Henoko, but also about the bigger issue of the Government of Japan’s prejudice against Ryukyu / Okinawans.
I look forward to the UN investigating the ongoing human rights violations and genocide occurring against Okinawans.
Sincerely,
Robert Kajiwara
President
The Peace For Okinawa Coalition
Circulation: 200,000
Email: contact@peaceforokinawa.org
Website: www.peaceforokinawa.org






Dear Mr Robert Kajiwara,


We acknowledge receipt of your complaint submitted to the Complaint Procedure of the Human rights Council. After a careful review of the content of your communication, we kindly request you to provide the following information as soon as possible, which you can send by e-mail or registry mail.


Please note that it is for the author of a complaint to substantiate his /her allegation and to provide the necessary information and documentation in support of his/her claims. In this regard, your complaint should be more precise in the exhaustion of domestic remedies. This information as presented is not sufficiently clear in order to enable us to process your complaint.


Therefore, you are kindly requested to provide a clear picture of the steps taken by or on behalf of the alleged victims to exhaust domestic remedies. Please provide details on the procedures which have been pursued, including recourse to the courts and other public authorities as well as human rights institutions, the claims made, at which time, and what the outcome was.
If the domestic remedies have not been exhausted on grounds that their application would be ineffective or unreasonably prolonged, please explain the reasons in detail.


Please note that without this documentation, the Chairperson of the Working Group on Communications of the Human Rights Council‘s Complaint Procedure will be unable to consider your complaint.


Yours sincerely


The Secretariat of the Human Rights Council’s complaint procedure.