July 5, 2024

Japanese Communist Party Chair Tamura Tomoko on July 4 pointed out that the Kishida government had concealed rape crimes committed by U.S. soldiers in Okinawa presumably because of political considerations. She called for holding both chambers’ Budget Committee meetings during the current Diet recess in order to have the government explain why it had hidden the U.S. crimes from the prefectural government.

At a press conference in the Diet building on the day, Tamura pointed out that following the 1995 Okinawa gang rape incident in which three U.S. servicemen kidnapped and repeatedly raped a 12-year-old Okinawan girl, the Japanese and U.S. governments in 1997 agreed that when a crime involving U.S. military personnel occurs, it will be reported immediately to the relevant local municipality. However, she stressed that although five cases of sexual abuse by U.S. soldiers occurred between January 2023 and May 2024, they were not reported to the Okinawa Prefectural government.

Pointing out that the Foreign Ministry as a reason for the concealment of U.S. soldiers’ crimes cited the need to protect victims’ privacy, the JCP chair said, “This excuse cannot be accepted. The Japanese government intentionally kept sexual assaults by U.S. military personnel under wraps. It is totally unacceptable.”

Tamura emphasized that the Kishida administration had hid from Okinawans the sexual abuse incidents involving the U.S military in an attempt to avoid the negative impact on the ruling LDP in the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly election facing Okinawans’ anger toward the government’s policy to strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance and push forward with the Henoko base project. She said, “It is unforgivable for the government to jeopardize people’s lives and safety and trample on women’s dignity in order to realize its political aim.”

Past related articles:
> Yet another rape by US soldier concealed from public in advance of Okinawa assembly election [June 29 & 30, 2024]
> Gov’t hid from Okinawa US airman’s sexual assault of minor for 3 months [June 27, 2024]