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Christian Conference of Asia
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CCA members condemn the brutal killing of The Rev. Fr. Fausto Tentorio, PIMEThe Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) joins the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), the Association of Major Religious in the Philippines (AMRSP) and the PIME religious community in mourning and condemning the brutal assassination of the Rev. Fr. Fausto Tentorio, PIME, last October 17th 2011. Father Tentorio was known ecumenically for his ministry among the Manobo tribal people, offering an alternative to the tribal communities’ (lumad) who have long been denied access to education and basic means of livelihood. He spoke critically and openly against the military presence in the ‘lumad’ villages in Arakan Valley, North Cotabato in Mindanao. CCA joins the Filipino people’s demand for justice in the killing of Fr. Tentorio and other members of the clergy and lay people in the Philippines, rendered victims of extrajudicial killings and with continuing impunity. We offer our prayers and solidarity from the Member Churches and Councils of Churches in 22 countries in Asia, served by CCA’s vision and programs on peace based on justice. “To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn”. (Isaiah 61:2). With prayers and solidarity, Henriette Hutabarat Lebang General Secretary cc.: CCA Officers and Members CCA Ecumenical Partners National Council of Churches in the Philippines posted by cbs on Wednesday, October 26, 2011 Peace in Jeju’s Kangjeong Village!Stop the construction of Navy base in Jeju Transcending our religious differences and offering our commonalities, we, the participants of the 3rd Asia Inter-Religious Conference on Article 9, together with all peace-loving religious communities, have prayed together for peace and security in East Asia. The conflict has deepened due to the construction of a naval base at Kangjeong village in Jeju Island. Praying for peace at Kangjeong village, we declare our position as follows. Jeju Island has been recognized by UNESCO as an ecological reserve and world heritage site, and at the same time considered as a World Geological Park because of its pristine natural environment and beautiful sceneries. most especially, Kangjeong village where the government plans to construct a naval base was already recognized as an ecological reserve for absolute protection because of its soft coral beds and rare basalt rocks rarely found in the world. We, representatives of varied religious communities are greatly concerned that the beautiful and peaceful Jeju Island will be turned into a large naval-military facility as US’s advance base in East Asia, thus creating tensions among Asian neighbors. Furthermore, the construction of a naval base in Jeju Island will not promote peace and stability in Northeast Asia and the world. We believe that genuine peace can only be brought by mutual cooperation and dialogue but not by military superiority. We also highlight the Korean government-initiated undemocratic decision-making processes. The desperate appeal of Kangjeong villagers to protect their peaceful living and land has been completely ignored and many violent and illegal methods have been used to suppress the villagers’ human rights and quash their appeal. The power entrusted by people to governments must respect the democratic legal process. Moreover, the government dependence on violent methods is unjustified. We will pray and act for an immediate stop of the naval base construction as well as for the restoration of peace at Kangjeong village. We demand the South Korean Government – • To stop construction of the naval base immediately; • To release immediately from detention the imprisoned Kangjeong villagers and peace activists; • To resume democratic dialogue with Kangjeong villagers October 7, 2011 Participants, the 3rd Article 9 Conference in Okinawa posted by cbs on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 Final Statement of the 3rd Asia Inter-religious Conference on Article 9From Seoul to Okinawa October 7, 2011 Okinawa Christian University Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes. In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized. 1) The 3rd Asia Inter-religious Conference on Article 9 of the Japanese Peace Constitution gathered 220 participants from Japan, Okinawa, South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand, Pakistan, South Africa, Switzerland, Italy, Canada and the USA to see and hear the experiences of the Okinawan people. The conference was held at the Okinawa Christian University from October 5 through 7th, 2011. With our thoughts turned toward the victims of disasters arising from the Great East Japan Earthquake, Tsunami, and Fukushima Number 1 Nuclear Power Plant incident, we prayerfully reaffirm the sanctity of life, and hereby issue this Statement. 2) Article 9 of the Constitution has never been realized in Japan and least of all in Okinawa, which holds roughly 74% of American military facilities as well as other Japan Self Defense Forces bases in just 0.6% of Japanese land. Furthermore, former Prime Minister Hatoyama’s declaration that he would have the military bases in Okinawa moved out of the prefecture or to another country has not been realized. Okinawa’s bases have not only been retained, but new bases are being constructed. On Jeju Island—designated an “Island of Peace” by the government of Korea—a new naval base is being built by the government and armed forces. We, the Asia Inter-Religious Conference on Article 9 of the Japanese Peace Constitution, categorically reject foreign military basing arrangements, be it the physical bases in Okinawa and the naval base in Jeju, Korea, or unhampered access to land, air, and naval facilities as contained in the Visiting Forces Agreement between the Philippines and the United States. 3) For the foregoing reasons, be it resolved that - 4) In the statement issued in Seoul, Korea, on the occasion of the 2nd Asia Inter-religious Conference on Article 9 of the Japanese Peace Constitution, we affirmed that, Article 9 is more than ever relevant for regional and international relations, and is forward-looking. It can be seen as the core value of a just, peaceful, and sustainable Asian community. 5) Despite Japan regaining independence in 1952, Okinawa has remained under U.S. military rule for another 20 years. All the U.S. military bases there remain intact. During this period, a large movement arose in Okinawa demanding the return of Okinawa to Japan, whose Constitution contained the war-renouncing Article 9. This wish was finally realized in 1972, in the so-called “Return of Okinawa.” However, this was essentially only a transfer of administrative rights, which resulted in the betrayal of Okinawa’s hopes and desires. As Okinawa was being returned to a Japan that had the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, these principles should have applied to Okinawa as well, but the governments of the United States and Japan struck a secret agreement that left the portage of nuclear arms into Okinawa up to the discretion of the U.S. What Okinawa desired was to be a land without military bases, or at least “comparable to the mainland” in level. But even after the transfer of administrative rights, the situation of military base presence in Okinawa did not change. Furthermore, Okinawa has been made more “comparable to the mainland” by the construction of new military bases for the Japan Self Defense Forces. In recent years this military presence is even threatening to expand to the regions of Miyako and Yaeyama. 6) The post-war government of Japan has continually accepted the presence of U.S. and JSDF military bases, thus contravening Article 9. Removal of “the world’s most dangerous base” at Futenma and its return to Okinawans still has no schedule. Despite the opposition of 80% of Okinawa’s citizens, the government of Japan is attempting to build a new military base to replace Futenma, which will destroy and pave over the sea at Henoko. The government is also destroying its own rain forest by building a helipad in Takae. Both places support biodiversity that is 50 to 60 times as rich as the coastal waters and forests in the mainland. Furthermore, U.S. forces are planning to deploy new Osprey planes to the yet-to-be-removed base at Futenma, as well as to various facilities being constructed further north. The government of Japan speaks of reducing the burden of military bases upon Okinawa, but the reality is that the functions of bases and military armaments are being strengthened. 7) With the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty and the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement, the military continues to cause daily suffering for the people of Okinawa. From these bases in Okinawa U.S. forces were sent into the Korean War, the Viet Nam War, the Gulf War, the Afghanistan War and the Iraq War. And ever since the Gulf War the Japan Self Defense Forces have joined and collaborated as one with U.S. forces in what can only be described as acts of war. 8) The governments of both Japan and the U.S. say that the bases on Okinawa are a deterrent force. But the the military forces on Okinawa are a threat to neighboring nations. We cannot watch silently while bombers and warships are sent out from this precious land, passed down from our peace-loving ancestors, to terrorize, destroy and kill the inhabitants in every region on this earth. 9) Arms cannot bring peace but respecting the rights of people can. In spite of the lies and fraudulent assertions of both the Japanese and U.S. governments, we, as written in the Preamble of the Constitution of Japan, “have determined to preserve our security, and existence, trusting in the justice and faith of the peace-loving peoples of the world.” We believe that there is a “nature that is true and real” in the peoples of all nations, and for this reason we resolve to continue walking forward towards a world without military bases. 10) Okinawa once had its own philosophical tradition of “non-military culture.” Through friendly relations and trade, not by arms, Ryukyu (Okinawa) established relations with various Asian countries. But in 1609 it came under the de facto rule of Japan’s Satsuma Clan, as a result of an invasion by Satsuma. This year marks the 402nd year from that date. In 1879 the Ryukyu Kingdom was again invaded, this time by the Meiji government, and was annexed by force to become part of Japan. This is what is known as the “Ryukyu Disposition,” and this year marks the 132nd year from that date. In the 15-year War, which began with the self-staged Manchurian “terrorist” Incident of 1931 and lasted until Japan’s surrender in 1945, Okinawa was sacrificed to ensure the continuity of the Japanese state system. The people of Okinawa were forced by the Imperial Japanese Army, deployed to defend Okinawa, to “Live Together and Die Together” with the military. During the Battle of Okinawa, in which land battles engulfed the island’s civilian inhabitants, massacres of local residents by Japanese forces, ejection of refugees from shelter caves, and “forced mass deaths” under military orders, occurred in many locations. The Japan Ministry of Education has shown a strong tendency to dilute such facts in Japanese school texts, giving rise even to court cases over the issue. Yet the Supreme Court found, in a 2011 judgment, that there were indeed Army orders to force “mass deaths” on the Islands of Zamami, Geruma, and Tokashiki 11) Holding the Asia Inter-religious Conference on Article 9 of the Japanese Peace Constitution here in Okinawa awakened us, people of many faiths, to the realities of the struggles of the Okinawan people. We truly pursue the realization of Article 9 in our own places, and walk together toward this realization. We commit ourselves to actively work to oppose the spread of American military bases across Asia and around the world and demand the closure of all military bases. We trust that the route to these aspirations can be found in each person’s faith. We pray for the realization of peace and take action to build peace through non-violence. The answer to violence is to embody and animate the spirit of Article 9. Participants of the 3rd Asia Inter-religious Conference on Article 9 posted by cbs on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 |
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