救援会声明文（英語）

Statement

Save the Two Persons Arrested
for Demanding an End to an Antiforeign Agitation

April 12th, 2009

by: the Rescue Committee for Action against the "Demonstration for the Expulsion of Foreigners"

On April 11th, 2009 there was an incident involving two persons arrested by the Warabi Police Station in Saitama Prefecture of Japan while participating in a counter protest against the "Demonstration for the Expulsion of Foreigners." One of the two persons was charged with the "theft" of a paper held by a leader of the demonstration. Some three hours later, the second person was arrested for allegedly interfering with a police officer in the execution of his duty. As their friends, we are calling for their rescue, appealing against the significance of their action and the injustice of the arrest, and we strongly urge the Saitama Prefectural Police to release them promptly.

On the day of the incident a "Demonstration for the Expulsion of Foreigners" was being held by a nationalist group called the "Society of Citizens Allowing No Privilege for Foreign Residents in Japan (Zainichi Tokuken wo Yurusanai Shimin no Kai; hereinafter called "Zaitokukai")." This group’s members have been widely propagandizing with inflammatory slogans such as "Foreigners are Criminals". They treat foreign nationals living peaceably and normally with their local communities as "criminals"; and they are persistently agitating for the deportation of foreigners. On top of all this, they have been carrying out personal attacks on one particular family that has long been living in the community, loudly advocating for the government to "Expel them!".

Informed of these circumstances from Internet and other sources, some forty individuals from outside the city gathered in front of the Warabi station of Japan Rail in order to protest against the demonstration being held by the Zaitokukai. While this group of individuals differed in their stances and philosophies, they shared a sense of crisis over growing anti-foreigner sentiment, as well as anger over the mean-spirited nature of attacks on some of the most vulnerable people in Japanese society.

Unbelievably, the Zaitokukai demonstration followed a course that included the elementary school previously attended by the child of the long-staying foreign family in question, as well as the junior high school s/he is currently attending. The demonstrators' shouts of "Expel them!" are an act of violence not only against the family concerned, but also against all long-staying foreigners in Japan. While this group stridently calls to "Allow No Privilege", they are specifically targeting foreigners, in particular child, who is most removed from any privilege within this society. This so-called "Great National March", is a cowardly and mean-spirited attack on the vulnerable.

At one o'clock p.m., in a public park near the station, the chauvinist group Zaitokukai started a rally to shout "Expel the family!" Sometime before the rally concluded, they carried a hand-made paper banner to the entrance of the park. It read "Illegal Immigration is a Crime - Don't Be Cheated by the Deception of 'Pity'!" These words, obviously targeted at the specific family living in Warabi, are beneath contempt, and are simply another example of the type of violence being used to attack overstaying foreigners living in the community. In order to resist this violence, one of the two arrested individuals participated in a protest action against the "Demonstration for the Expulsion of Foreigners." A police officer then requested him to come voluntarily to the police station for questioning, and he agreed. However, unbelievably, the Zaitokukai filed a property damage report to the police, as a "theft" case. Consequently, he was placed under arrest for "theft", and continues to be detained in the Warabi Police Station.

Thereafter, many of the participants in the counter-protest action gathered at the police station and made a formal request to meet the arrested person. However, the police response was to erect barricades, deploy officers, and refuse any meeting with the arrested man, without indicating any reason for their stance. Moreover, a lawyer, presenting identification, was also denied visiting rights for longer than one hour with the man. Then, escorted by the police, some rightists suddenly appeared on the scene, and began verbally abusing the protesters. In the confusion of the moment, another person was arrested, allegedly for interfering with a police officer in the execution of his duty.

In this counter protest there were undoubtedly many deficiencies in organisation, and a number of errors were made by those who called for this action. Shortcomings that can be attributed to the highly diverse body of protesters, and an insufficient consensus amongst those assembled. These criticisms should be accepted and learnt from. However, we think that the protest action against the chauvinist group Zaitokukai was, in itself, a fully justified action. The demonstration was a threatening action, one that aimed to intimidate the many foreign citizens struggling to survive in Japan despite an uncertain legal status. It is the demonstrators, and their aggressive actions, that should be judged.

On the other hand, the people whom the Zaitokukai refer to as "criminals" and whose expulsion they call for are people who live, work and have friendships with the broader Japanese community. Even though they do not possess an officially sanctioned visa, they represent no threat to Japanese society.

To live is no crime. We urge the authorities to promptly release the two people who were arrested while seeking for an end to xenophobic agitation.


e-mail address:oidashihantai@gmail.com