Stop Illegal Deportation of Kurdish Refugees In Japan
Defend Kurdish and Iranian Refugees In Japan
Emergency Protest Picket
Thursday February 3, 2005 3:00-4:30 PM
Japanese Consulate San Francisco
50 Fremont St./Mission St. San Francisco

At the same time that the Koizumi government is violating the Japanese Constitution Clause 9 by sending troops to Iraq to supposedly "protect freedom", it is illegally deporting Kurdish political refugees in Japan back to Turkey. On Tuesday January 18, Kurdish refugees Ahmet Kazankiran and his son, Ramazan, were literally pushed on a plane and deported from Japan despite the fact that Japan is a signatory country the U.N. Convention Relating To The Status of Refugees. The rest of their family and other refugees are also threatened with deportations. The office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has described the deportations as "contrary to Japan's obligations under international law" and said it contradicts the humanitarian aid Japan extends to refugees and disaster survivors abroad.

www.unhcr.or.jp/news/press/pdf/pr050118_e.pdf

www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home

It seems the Japanese "war government" of Koizumi while it illegally is sending troops to Iraq to carry out the wishes of the Bush administration has little concern about violating the rights of Kurdish immigrants who are subject to persecution in Turkey for supporting the independence of Kurdistan.
Kazankiran came to Japan after he took part in a campaign seeking Kurdish independence in Turkey. He and his son held a sit-in protest in front of the United Nations University in Tokyo last year after Japan refused to grant him refugee status.
The Koizumi government is also seeking to illegally militarize the country and repress all democratic and labor rights. Teachers in Tokyo are now being suspended and fired for refusing to sing nationalist pro-war songs. The government has also passed so called "anti-terrorism" laws modeled on the US "Patriot Act" legislation that is now being used to harass and illegally arrest trade unionists and other anti-war activists in Japan.
Recently the Japanese police arrested union TAKE Ken'ichi, President of Kan-Nama, TAKEYA Shingo, Executive Board Member of Kan-Nama of
the(Solidarity Union of Japan Construction and Transport Workers Kansai Area Branch) and carried out an raid on the union headquarters and 30 union members' homes in Osaka.
The Koizumi government is also attempting to censor the news. Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Shoichi Nakagawa and former Chief cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe have sought to censor NHK producers from exposing the use of "comfort women" by the Japanese government. They want to cleanse their government's previous war crimes so they can get on with carrying out
the militarization of Japan. We demand that all deportations of refugees and immigrants in Japan be halted. We call on the Japanese people to investigate the violation of refugee and democratic rights by the Koizumi government and to call for the resignation of this government for continual violation of all democratic, labor and refugee rights.

Please send letters of protest to the Consulate General in SF at 50 Fremont St. SF and the press in Japan
In San Francisco, the consulate phone number is (415)777-3533

US-Japan Coalition To Protest the Illegal Deportation of Kurdish Refugees In
Japan And For The Defense Of Democratic Rights

For Information Call 925-327-0001 or 415-867-0628
Protest Picket
Thursday February 3, 2005 3:00 PM-4:30 PM
Japanese Consulate 50 Fremont St./Mission St. San Francisco

Japan Support Group For The Kazankiran Family
homepage3.nifty.com/kds/

Coalition To Protest Japanese Government Deportations Of Kurdish Refugees

Middle East Radio Project (MERP),
Jack Heyman, ILWU Exeuctive Board Member,
Labor Action Coalition,
American Kurdish Information Project,
Attorney Karen Parker
For Information contact drpeacess (at) yahoo.com 925-327-0001 or (415)867-0628