Okinawa Prefectural Assembly to Urge Japanese, U.S. Govts to Swiftly Share Info on Sexual Assaults by U.S. Soldiers

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:44 JST, July 3, 2024

The Okinawa prefectural assembly has compiled drafts of a written opinion and a protest resolution to be submitted to the U.S. and Japanese governments after a series of sexual assaults by U.S. soldiers stationed in the prefecture, none of which the prefecture was promptly informed of.

The drafts obtained Tuesday by The Yomiuri Shimbun demand an apology for the victims, the presentation of preventive measures, and the swift provision of information to the prefecture and municipalities concerned.

The assembly’s special committee meeting Monday revealed that the prefectural police have detected three violent sexual assaults since last year on top of recently revealed sex crimes by a U.S. airman at Kadena Air Base and a Marine Corps seaman from Camp Schwab. None of them were promptly reported to the prefecture.

The drafts said that the series of assaults “have angered the people of the prefecture.”

The written opinion to be submitted to the Japanese government requests that it coordinate with the United States to swiftly report assaults while protecting the victims’ privacy. The draft protest resolution to be presented to the U.S. government and military calls for concrete and effective measures such as curfews to prevent crimes.

The special committee will finalize the draft texts on Thursday, hoping to pass them at the assembly’s plenary session next Wednesday.

Foreign Ministry to Review How Info is Shared on U.S. Soldiers’ Sex Crimes in Okinawa; Prefecture Drafts Opinion, Protest