2010 April 7 - 13 [
OKINAWA]
Court recognizes secret pact on Okinawa’s return
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April 10, 2010
The Tokyo District Court on April 9 ordered the government to disclose diplomatic documents related to the 1972 return of Okinawa to Japan from the U.S., acknowledging a secret agreement existed between the two nations over Japan’s financing of Okinawa’s reversion.
It also ordered the government to pay a total of 2.5 million yen in compensation to plaintiffs, criticizing it for neglecting the public’s right to know by refusing to disclose the documents.
The lawsuit was filed by 25 journalists, writers, and academics in March 2009, following the government’s decision in October 2008 not to release the information.
The plaintiffs were calling on the foreign and finance ministries to disclose five diplomatic documents. Although they were all declassified in the U.S., a government panel in its March 9 report on secret pacts denied their existence.
Foreign Minister Okada Katsuya stated on the same day that the ministry will likely appeal the verdict. “As the panel’s investigation has made clear, the Foreign Ministry does not have (the concerned documents). There is nothing further to say on this issue,” he added.
- Akahata, April 10, 2010
