Professor Matsushima makes a statement at the U.N. demanding universities return Okinawan ancestral remains
Professor Yasukatsu Matsushima of Ryukoku University presents a statement virtually.
December 2, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo
On December 1, Professor Yasukatsu Matsushima of Ryukoku University presented a statement before the United Nations. In the statement, he sought the repatriation of ancestral remains removed from Okinawa in 1928-1929 by researchers at the former Imperial Universities. These remains have not yet been returned.
Matsushima presented virtually at meeting of the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples held in Geneva, Switzerland. He presented as a joint representative of Nirai Kanai nu Kai, an Okinawan citizen’s group that is active in efforts to repatriate ancestral remains.
The statement was submitted jointly by Nirai Kanai nu Kai and the Shimin Gaikou Centre, an NGO that works with the United Nations. In the statement, the organizations criticize Kyoto University for not returning the ancestral remains kept at the university to Okinawa. Further, although the National Taiwan University returned the remains that were there, the Okinawa Board of Education that received them has rejected re-entombing. The organizations argue that this violates Article 12 of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (the rights to religious traditions and customs, as well as repatriation of human remains). They also criticized research organizations for taking ancestral remains, keeping them, and using them for research. Additionally, the statement addressed the impact of the novel coronavirus, including the delay of oral arguments in the lawsuit seeking the return of the Ryukyuan remains (currently in litigation at the Kyoto District Court), saying “To a great extent, Covid-19 has limited the exercise of rights guaranteed by international law.”
(English translation by T&CT and Ellen Huntley)
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