Politic-Economic-Society-Tech

Air Force Sergeant Questioned in Japan

OKINAWA CITY, Japan (AP) — Police spent a second day Saturday questioning an U.S. Air Force sergeant about the alleged rape of a Japanese woman he spent the night drinking with near the American military base on Okinawa. 

No charges have been filed against the sergeant, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis said. Okinawan police also have questioned as many as seven other U.S. servicemen, most as possible witnesses, he said. 

The alleged incident was front-page news in both local newspapers on Okinawa, where a spate of crimes over the years by American servicemen — many of them sexual assaults — has stoked public opposition to the large U.S. military presence on the island. 

The rape accusations come just a day before Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and President Bush were to hold talks Saturday at Camp David. Reducing the U.S. military presence on Okinawa was expected to be a main topic of discussion. 

``We are not going to stand for this violence,'' Akira Nakane, 69, who served on the Okinawa state council from 1972-95, said Saturday. ``I would rather have (the U.S. military) off the island. ... As long as American bases occupy 10 percent of our land, there will be problems. 

``There are more incidents than we can count. This is just one of many that will continue as long as the American military people are here.'' 

While it didn't mention the alleged rape, the Okinawa Times repeated its long-standing call to reduce U.S. troops. 

``We hope that Prime Minister Koizumi in his summit talks will tell the United States that the only solution is the reduction and withdrawal of the Marines. Many experts have pointed out that from the military standpoint this is possible,'' the paper said Saturday. 

Davis said the rape allegedly took place shortly after 2 a.m., in a parking lot in the town of Chatan, in an area of restaurants and bars known as ``American Village,'' not far from several U.S. military bases. 

The woman, who is in her 20s, told authorities several foreign men surrounded her and that one of them raped her, said Shoichi Shinzato, a spokesman for the Okinawa police. 

A passer-by told police that several other men — apparently U.S. servicemen — also participated in the attack before the assailants fled in a vehicle, Shinzato said. 

The U.S. government immediately deplored the alleged attack. 

``The kind of behavior alleged is entirely unacceptable, and U.S. military officials are cooperating fully with Okinawan government officials and police to determine the facts of this incident,'' said Lt. Gen. Earl Hailston, commander of U.S. forces on Okinawa. 

State Department spokesman Phil Reeker said the Bush administration took the allegations very seriously. 

``If a crime has occurred, U.S. military officials will work with local authorities to ensure the person responsible is held accountable for his actions,'' he said. 

A technical sergeant — assigned to the 353rd special operations group at Kadena Air Base — who had been drinking with the woman that night was suspected in the assault, Davis said. He declined to identify the sergeant. 

In Washington, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said ``a number of servicemen came to the rescue of the individual involved and may have helped to calm this incident down, which speaks well of those people.'' 

The Kadena Air Base was open Saturday for Amerifest, an annual weekend festival meant to promote goodwill and friendship between Okinawans and U.S. forces. Kadena officials said they had no intention of canceling the event, despite concerns of possible protests. 

For Okinawans, the attack was the latest in a series of troubles. 

``This is very disappointing,'' Shigehiro Nakasone, a 59-year-old pharmacist who lives near the Kadena base, said Saturday. ``These kind of things happen because the U.S. troops are so concentrated on Okinawa and not spread out evenly throughout Japan.'' 

Nearly two-thirds of the 47,000 U.S. military personnel stationed in Japan, including the largest contingent of Marines outside the United States, are on Okinawa. 

In 1995, two U.S. Marines and a sailor raped a 12-year-old schoolgirl, sparking the biggest anti-U.S. demonstrations in Japan in decades. 

Last year, an American soldier was arrested after entering the Okinawa home of a Japanese family, getting into the bed of a young girl and molesting her. The U.S. military responded by imposing a drinking ban and a late-night curfew. 


source: The Associated Press, 30 Jun 2001