Japanese workers at U.S. Navy bases are protesting a policy that requires workers who deal with confidential matters to submit to lie-detector tests. "The plan neglects our basic human rights," said Misao Kamiyama, chairman of the All Japanese Garrison Forces Labor Union, which represents 1,200 workers at the U.S. bases. The union asked the Defense Facilities Administration Agency, which hires Japanese workers for the bases, to urge the U.S. to drop the polygraph requirement. "In Japan, only criminals get that kind of treatment," Mr. Kamiyama said. "We are planning a full-scale nationwide protest against the decision" if the agency doesn't respond by today. The Navy briefed the workers on the tests in April. Mr. Kamiyama said about 500 Japanese were asked to sign an agreement to take a polygraph examination and were "threatened to be transferred to other sections if they refuse to sign." The accuracy of polygraph tests is widely disputed. An agency spokesman said it consented to the U.S. plan but expressed concern about the "human-rights standpoint" of polygraph tests. The spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, didn't elaborate. The agency acts as liaison between the U.S. military in Japan and the Japanese government. Under the plan, only employees at Navy plants would have to take the tests. Since September 1987, the Navy has been requiring the polygraph test before it grants "limited-access authorization," to personnel, a U.S. military spokesman said. About 500 Japanese base workers are subject to the lie-detector test, the spokesman said. Most work at ship-repair facilities in Yokosuka and Sasebo. Mr. Kamiyama said transfers of employees who refused to take the tests could fuel anti-American sentiment.
The Defense Facility Administration Agency hires Japanese workers at United States bases, and acts as liaison between the Japanese government and the United States military. Since September 1987 the Navy has been telling employees that they would be required to take polygraph tests before getting "limited access authorization". Last month the Navy explained the requirement, and the workers are now protesting it as an invasion of their privacy. The Navy is threatening to transfer those who refuse the polygraph, and the Japanese Garrison Forces Union that represents the workers, say they will mount a nation-wide protest.