A US Air Power soldier, aged 25, has been charged with kidnapping and raping a teenage lady below the age of 16 in Okinawa, Japan, the place the biggest American navy base within the area is positioned, BBC reported.
The alleged assault befell on December 24, and the soldier was recognized by means of safety digital camera footage after the lady’s household reported the incident.He has been within the custody of Japanese authorities since late March.
The case has reignited long-standing opposition to the US navy presence in Okinawa, which hosts greater than half of the 54,000 US troopers serving in Japan. Sexual assault circumstances involving US service personnel have fueled anger previously, with one of the high-profile incidents occurring in 1995 when a 12-year-old lady was raped by three US service personnel, sparking months-long protests.
Authorities spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi revealed the costs to the general public on Tuesday, stating that the US officers are totally cooperating with investigators. Japan’s Ministry of International Affairs has lodged a grievance with US Ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emmanuel, and the primary listening to within the case is scheduled for July 12. Okinawa governor Denny Tamaki described the case as “not simply disturbing… but additionally a violation of the lady’s dignity”, and stated it “introduced a major stage of mistrust”.
Japan hosts one of many world’s largest American navy forces outdoors the US, with about 30,000 American troopers stationed throughout Okinawa. The bases have develop into more and more strategic for Washington as a result of Okinawa’s proximity to Taiwan, permitting the US to reply shortly to any Chinese language menace. Nevertheless, seven in ten Okinawans really feel that the focus of US bases on their islands is “unfair”, in response to an opinion ballot final yr.
Accidents and crimes involving Japanese victims have lengthy stirred rigidity across the American presence. In 2012, a US Navy officer killed two Japanese residents in a automobile accident, and in 2017, a US military base employee was convicted for the rape and homicide of a 20-year-old native lady. Efforts to maneuver the US bases to much less populated components of Okinawa have been made, however locals need them eliminated altogether.
Nevertheless, specialists say Japan’s navy alliance with the US is just too sturdy for that to occur, given the challenges posed by China’s rising claims over disputed waters and islands, and North Korea’s barrage of missile exams.
The alleged assault befell on December 24, and the soldier was recognized by means of safety digital camera footage after the lady’s household reported the incident.He has been within the custody of Japanese authorities since late March.
The case has reignited long-standing opposition to the US navy presence in Okinawa, which hosts greater than half of the 54,000 US troopers serving in Japan. Sexual assault circumstances involving US service personnel have fueled anger previously, with one of the high-profile incidents occurring in 1995 when a 12-year-old lady was raped by three US service personnel, sparking months-long protests.
Authorities spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi revealed the costs to the general public on Tuesday, stating that the US officers are totally cooperating with investigators. Japan’s Ministry of International Affairs has lodged a grievance with US Ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emmanuel, and the primary listening to within the case is scheduled for July 12. Okinawa governor Denny Tamaki described the case as “not simply disturbing… but additionally a violation of the lady’s dignity”, and stated it “introduced a major stage of mistrust”.
Japan hosts one of many world’s largest American navy forces outdoors the US, with about 30,000 American troopers stationed throughout Okinawa. The bases have develop into more and more strategic for Washington as a result of Okinawa’s proximity to Taiwan, permitting the US to reply shortly to any Chinese language menace. Nevertheless, seven in ten Okinawans really feel that the focus of US bases on their islands is “unfair”, in response to an opinion ballot final yr.
Accidents and crimes involving Japanese victims have lengthy stirred rigidity across the American presence. In 2012, a US Navy officer killed two Japanese residents in a automobile accident, and in 2017, a US military base employee was convicted for the rape and homicide of a 20-year-old native lady. Efforts to maneuver the US bases to much less populated components of Okinawa have been made, however locals need them eliminated altogether.
Nevertheless, specialists say Japan’s navy alliance with the US is just too sturdy for that to occur, given the challenges posed by China’s rising claims over disputed waters and islands, and North Korea’s barrage of missile exams.
