Okinawa Island has seen a spate of sexual assaults reportedly committed by American military personnel over the past year
FILE PHOTO: Security guards man the main entrance to Camp Schwab, a United States military base in Nago, Okinawa prefecture, Japan. © Carl Court / Getty Images
Two US Marines stationed on Japan’s Okinawa Island are under investigation for allegedly raping local civilian women, Kyodo News reported on Thursday.
A Marine, said to be in his 20s, is suspected of raping a Japanese woman in a bathroom at a US military base last month. The suspect is also facing charges for injuring a second woman, a civilian worker at the base, who tried to intervene and help the victim. Another Marine, also in his 20s, is accused of raping a woman at a different base in January, according to the outlet.
The reported incidents follow a spate of sexual assaults that have reportedly been committed by American service members on the island over the past year. The southernmost prefecture hosts 70% of all US military facilities in Japan, despite comprising just 1% of the country’s territory.
Okinawa prefectural police referred the case to prosecutors earlier this month, Kyodo said. The Japanese authorities launched an investigation in coordination with the US military and conducted a voluntary interview with the Marines involved.
Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki, a vocal critic of US military bases in Japan, condemned the alleged rapes as “very deplorable” and called on American military officials to take measures “that would be effective to prevent a similar incident.”
US Ambassador to Japan George Glass expressed “deep” concern over the reports, stating that he was troubled by the allegations.
“We deeply value the ties of trust and friendship we have built over many decades with our Japanese hosts, and I am committed to doing everything I can to prevent actions that may jeopardize these bonds,” Kyodo quoted the envoy, who arrived in Japan last week.
The cases mark the latest in a series of violent attacks against women in Okinawa. In December, a Japanese court sentenced Senior Airman Brennon Washington to five years of hard labor after convicting him of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl the previous year. Last June, a Marine lance corporal was indicted for attempted sexual assault, while another lance corporal faced charges in September for injuring a woman during a sexual assault.
Other high-profile cases – most notably the 1995 abduction and rape of a 12-year-old girl by three American servicemen – have fueled strong anti-base sentiment in Okinawa.
The US and Japanese governments reportedly maintain, however, that the presence of American troops in Okinawa serves as a deterrent in light of concerns over China’s military activities in the South and East China Seas, as well as North Korea’s ongoing nuclear and ballistic missile programs.