THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
July 5, 2024 at 15:24 JST
Protesters in front of the Foreign Ministry building in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward on July 2 criticize the central government for failing to disclose information about suspected sexual assaults committed by U.S. servicemen in Okinawa Prefecture. (Kayoko Sekiguchi)
Under fire for its non-disclosure, the government will adopt a policy of quickly sharing information with Okinawa Prefecture about sex crimes involving U.S. military personnel in the southern island prefecture, sources said.
The government will announce the policy as early as on July 5.
At least five such sex crime cases have occurred since last year, but the Okinawa prefectural government did not learn about them until months later.
One of the cases involved a suspected sexual assault against an underage girl around Christmas last year.
Naha prosecutors indicted a U.S. Air Force member in March over the attack. But the prefectural government only learned about the investigation in June through a media broadcast.
The government and Okinawa prefectural police said the cases were not made public to protect the victims’ privacy and to ensure smooth investigations.
The explanations did not quell the anger of Okinawa prefectural government officials.
Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki met Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa to protest the central government’s failure to disclose the information.
The government now plans, in principle, to notify the prefecture of such incidents in the same manner as when investigative authorities inform related ministries.
Okinawa prefectural police on July 4 announced the arrest of a 22-year-old member of the U.S Marine Corps stationed at Camp Kinser.
He is suspected of violating a prefectural anti-nuisance ordinance by touching a woman’s breasts.
The suspected incident occurred on the stairs of a building in Naha around 8:30 a.m. on July 4, according to the Naha Police Station.
The woman called police, saying she had been groped by a stranger, and the suspect was arrested near the site.
He has denied the accusation, police said.
(This article was written by Shino Matsuyama and Satsuki Tanahashi.)
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