Removal of U.S. bases, the only way to eliminate crimes by U.S. servicemen: JCP Akamine

   In the February 18 House of Representatives Budget Committee meeting, Japanese Communist Party representative Akamine Seiken severely criticized the government for refusing to take effective measures to prevent the recurrence of crimes in Japan involving U.S. military personnel, and urged it to remove the U.S. bases which are the root cause of such crimes.

   Akamine stressed that there was no fault on the part of the 14-year-old girl raped by a U.S. Marine in Okinawa on February 10, and stated, “Because of the presence of U.S. bases, residents’ human rights are threatened.”

   The U.S. Marine reportedly picked up the junior high school girl by offering her a ride home. He took her to his apartment, but she escaped. He then caught her and raped her. Her friend, whom she called on her cell phone, heard her crying over the phone and the man yelling at her to shut up.

   Pointing out that atrocious crimes committed by U.S. military personnel have repeatedly occurred even after a gang-rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by three U.S. Marines in 1995, Akamine condemned the government, stating that the “preventive measures” the government has called for over the years are only an impractical “desktop plans.”

In response to Akamine, Foreign Minister Komura Masahiko simply repeated his earlier remarks that the government will do its best to prevent further crimes and that tightening the discipline in the U.S. forces is primarily the task of the U.S.

   The criminal of the latest rape case lives outside the U.S. base. Akamine asked if the government has obtained information regarding U.S. personnel living outside bases and if it plans to request the U.S. forces to prohibit their servicemen from living off base.

   Defense Minister Ishiba Shigeru answered that the government does not know the number of U.S. military personnel living outside bases. Foreign Minister Komura said that the government has asked the U.S. to work out comprehensive preventive measures that deal with U.S. personnel living not only inside but outside bases.

   Referring to Komura’s remarks that “under the Constitution” the government cannot ban U.S. servicemen from living outside bases, Akamine stated, “Okinawans are prohibited from entering U.S. bases even for visiting their ancestors’ graves. While Okinawans’ constitutional rights are infringed upon, how come the government cares so much about the U.S. forces’ ‘constitutional rights’?”

   When a 12-year-old girl was abducted and raped by three U.S. Marines in September 1995, the commander of the U.S. forces in the Pacific said, “I think that it [the rape] was absolutely stupid. For the price they paid to rent a car, they could have had a girl.” Citing this remark, Akamine stressed, “With such a sense of being the occupier, there is no way for U.S. military commanders to properly tighten discipline within their command.”

   Akamine quoted a woman who was raped by a U.S. serviceman and who later repeatedly attempted to commit suicide. She said, “It is wrong that those who are trained to kill people are living right next to us. U.S. bases are the hotbed of sexual crimes and thus must be removed.” Akamine strongly demanded that the government remove U.S. military from Japan, in particular the Marine Corps that are trained as the first “strike force.”
- Akahata, February 19, 2008