Protests Grow in Japan Against
Sexual Assaults by US Troops
Joseph Essertier / World BEYOND War
(July 8, 2024) — Recently, in Okinawa there have been several reports of girls and women in Okinawa being sexually assaulted by members of the US military. Perhaps most shocking has been the case of US Air Force member Brennon R. E. Washington, who was indicted on 27 March on charges of “non-consensual sexual intercourse” and “indecent kidnapping” of an underage girl just before Christmas last year. Below we present a translation by Steve Rabson of a statement issued by a prominent women’s rights organization.
Statement from New Japan Women’s Association
Shin Nihon Fujin no Kai
Yet another sexual assault by a US forces member
on a child is covered up by the Japanese government.
We must unite to raise our voices in protest!
A US Air Force officer stationed in the 18th Air Wing at Kadena Airbase drove off in his car with the girl, and sexually assaulted her knowing that she was under sixteen years old.
The suspect was charged by the Naha District Attorney on March 27, 2024, but the Japanese government withheld notification of the Okinawa Prefectural government in a cover-up that has sparked deep public mistrust. Not until three months later did the public learn of the assault when the local media reported it on June 25.
Furthermore, that day the media revealed that the government had also failed to report that in May the police had arrested and charged a Marine in Okinawa with non-consensual sex inflicting injury on a woman.
On June 27 our office sent this written protest to Prime Minister Kishida and to the Defense and Foreign Ministers:
“We strongly protest the sexual assault of a child by a US forces member and its subsequent cover-up, and demand effective preventive measures.”
Now we must raise our voices from every community.
Many thanks to Steve Rabson, professor emeritus of East Asian studies at Brown University, for this translation above and suggestions on the explanatory text below.
“US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is closely tracking the cases of US military personnel accused of committing sexual crimes in the southern Japan island prefecture of Okinawa, a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday, amid renewed anti-base sentiment among local residents.” While that may be true, few observers have stated the obvious, that this looks like a cover-up.
According to the latest count, the Okinawa Prefectural Government is now aware of five casesof US sexual violence. These cases must remind many Okinawans of the 1995 rape of a 12-year-old girl by three US service members, which sparked massive protests of against US bases.
“We have to do better,” [Emanuel Rahm, US Ambassador to Japan] said, adding that the US military’s high standards and protocols for education and training of its troops was “just not working.”
Instead of waiting until Saturday (the 6th) to make a statement of regret, he could have reported these incidents to the Governor of Okinawa, Denny Tamaki, as soon as he became aware of them. And even better, he could have apologized to the Governor and the people of Okinawa Prefecture.
The US mass media has paid a little attention to this string of incidents, but if Okinawans see zero justice coming from the US government, there will be even more opposition to the US military presence and pressure to stop the construction of the new base in Henoko.
Okinawa reverted from 27 years of US military occupation to Japanese administration in 1972, but US bases still occupy large areas of land. US forces number some 25,000. 70% of the total US military presence in Japan remains in the small island prefecture, with 0.6% of the nation’s land area and less than one percent of its population.
Noise from military airfields interrupts classes in the schools and disturbs the sleep of local residents. Leaks of PFAS “forever chemicals” poison the drinking water. Military-related accidents include deadly helicopter crashes and drunk drivers killing pedestrians. The recent sexual assaults are only the latest in a seemingly endless series, including the gang rape of a 12-year-old girl in 1995 and the rape and murder of a 20-year-old woman in 2016.
[Click here for the original text of the statement in Japanese from the New Japan Women’s Association].
