Hiroshima Police Unlawfully Arrested A Citizen to Silence Evacuees Appealing aboutOngoing Fukushima Disaster. A Serious Threats to Human Right and Free Speech.
Please share the following news and the our first statement of protest.
We demand that the Hiroshima police immediately release the arrested friend of the nuclear evacuees who participated in Aug.6 Hiroshima actions!
We, an organization of evacuees from the Fukushima nuclear disaster and their supporters, attended various peace rallies and events held in Hiroshima on August 6th 2018, commemorating the 73rd anniversary of 1945 nuclear atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, killing hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. Survivors of Hiroshima atomic bombing and Fukushima nuclear evacuees are both victims of nuclear disaster and radiation. Our goal was to unite with Hiroshima and act together to end this ongoing disasters in the world.
There on the night of 6th, in front of the great number of people coming for these peace events from all over the world, we gave speeches in both Japanese and English. Our speech was for remembrance of those killed by the nuclear atomic bombing and the endless damage caused by the Fukushima nuclear disaster occurred in 2011.
A lot of Japanese and foreign tourists who visited Hiroshima for this anniversary stopped and listened to our speeches earnestly, taking our handouts explaining what the Fukushima nuclear disaster has caused : the real health damage of residents now spreading all over the eastern Japan; and the predicaments that evacuees are faced with even today. We were deeply moved by the amount of attentions and feedback we received from them. When one of the 2nd generation of atomic bomb victims gave a speech on how Hiroshima and Fukushima are connected with one straight line, radiation exposure, there was a round of applause from people including locals of Hiroshima. It became a great place of solidarity for sharing experiences and thoughts among those who were there with us.
However all things were changed when a suspicious passerby wearing military fashion, pointing his camera, started shouting complaints at us, and took photos of us, apparently aiming to disturb our speeches. We ignored him but when we were finishing it up and packing our stuff, he screamed saying, ‘Someone just broke my camera’ and called the local police even though we did not go near him or made any physical contact with him or whatsoever.
The local police officers rushed to us and blocked us from going anywhere.
The officers started to question us and we explained many times that we did nothing to him, it was totally a false accusation and we needed to go back because some of us got very sick from the summer heat. However, the police officers refused to let none of us go.
The officers were talking something with their supervisor by wireless telephone all the time. Then suddenly they said “The police have had an eyewitness who saw your member break that man’s camera. So now take this person to the police station.” We told them that none of us did such a thing, however the officers put handcuffs on one of our members, saying “You are under suspicion of escape!! You are under arrest!! Let you know the reason of arrest when you are brought to the police station.” The police officers lifted that person’s body violently and then threw into their police car and took our member to the main police station in Hiroshima. This is clearly illegal abduction and confinement by the police using a false accusation.
The police officers physically held us down, trying us not to approach to the suspicious camera man or ‘eyewitness’. Witnessing a whole situation, some citizens there shouted to the police officers “how dare you doing such a thing on the memorial day for war dead!” and “How come? They have done nothing wrong!” The officers withdrew to the police station right after they made the arrest as if they themselves are fugitives.
The reason for this arrest was, we suspect, that the upper-level of police department judged our speeches and handouts politically and they ordered those police officers at the site to arrest our member.
This fact shows how the current Japanese administration is terrified of their biggest skeleton in the closet, the actual health damage due to the Fukushima nuclear disaster, coming to light. They are also making desperate efforts to hamper the voices of Fukushima nuclear victims and the concerns and resentment against atomic bombings from spreading among people in Japan and around the world. So they use whatever means to stop those real pictures being known to the public, domestically and internationally.
It was late at night, we have not been able to send lawyers with our member still confined at the police station of Hiroshima. It will be notified by Aug 9th whether our member will be released or continue detained for ten more days. We need your help and cooperation for us to make every effort to realize an earlier release.
A participants in the peace memorial events in Hiroshima, who gives a speech against radiation exposure gets arrested by a completely false accusation.
Such an unlawful illegal arrest shall not happen.
In order to protect or free speech and human right please focus the fight on against the police request for detention.
Please share this information with anyone you know.
Any donation would help rescue our member.
Contact us:
Website: https://www.gowest-comewest.net/
E-mail: gowest.comewest@gmail.com
