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Okinawa in Uproar Over Alleged Sexual Violence by U.S. Servicemen
The Japanese island of Okinawa, where U.S. military forces are concentrated, is in an uproar over the issue of the alleged sexual violence by U.S. servicemen.
A local resident in her 20s was allegedly raped by U.S. serviceman surrounded by 3-4 other servicemen in the early hours of Friday morning in a parking place in the central Okinawan town of Chatan. Police have been questioning a U.S. Air force sergeant at Kadena Air Base, based on the statement by a witness who said that the assailants had fled in a car with special number plates beginning with `Y`, used by U.S. Forces personnel.
The U.S. sergeant is denying the charge, saying that `I don¡¯t know because I was drunk at that time.`` Other U.S. soldiers were reported that they were not involved in an alleged rape incident. With this incident, anti-US rallies are spreading. `Group of women who do not forgive the military bases and forces` demanded the `withdrawal of the U.S. military bases and forces, which have repeatedly committed the crimes for the last 56 years`. Another civic organization also protested saying that ``the rage of the Okinawan residents and the Japanese people is beyond its limits.``
Japan`s Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro has voiced concern over the incident saying it could seriously affect the feelings of the residents. The U.S. major media also reported this incident in detail. Although the residents insisted that Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro should protest strongly about the crimes committed by the U.S. servicemen in Okinawa at the Japan-U.S. summit talk, it was without avail.
The Okinawan people¡¯s anti-U.S. feelings have been deepened since three marines gang- raped an elementary student in 1995. Their complaints have been accumulated since 75 percent of the U.S. military bases are concentrated in Okinawa.
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