December 23, 2024

Okinawan women’s groups, peace activists, and trade unions on December 22 organized a rally in Okinawa City with about 2,500 people participating in protest against the rape of an underage girl by a U.S. soldier in December of last year in the prefecture, demanding that the Japanese and U.S. governments implement effective measures to prevent a recurrence.

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira (House of Councilors) and Okinawa-elected JCP Dietmember Akamine Seiken (House of Representatives) appeared at the rally and expressed their solidarity with the Okinawans.

Okinawa Governor Tamaki Denny said, “We are citizens of a small archipelago called Ryukyu, and we just want the same norms to apply to us as to the international community.”

A 28-year-old woman from Urasoe City, who was a high school teacher until March, said, “The victim was the same age as the students I taught. I felt I had to come here, to this rally, to work with other activists to protect them from crimes committed by U.S. military personnel.”

A man from Naha City, 26, who took part in a political rally for the first time, said, “Seeing people younger than myself speaking up against crimes involving U.S. servicepersons in Okinawa made me realize that young Okinawans are deeply concerned about the state of Okinawa.”

A woman in her 40s from Okinawa City who attended with her 6-year-old child said that all women, including rape survivors, children, and men have human rights. “But,” she added, “our legitimate rights have not been protected and I am angry about this.”

A male university student in his speech said, “If Japan-U.S. security is founded on the sacrifice of Okinawa, it cannot be called security,”

After the rally, Koike responded to an interview with local media and said that the Japanese government must listen to the demand university and high school students expressed at the rally that “the tragedy must never be repeated again.”

Koike criticized the government for “allowing crimes and accidents caused by U.S. soldiers to repeatedly occur” by hiding incidents involving the U.S. military from the Japanese public. He expressed his determination to press Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru in the Diet to fundamentally revise the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) without delay in order to establish a peaceful Okinawa without military bases.

Past related article:
> US airman sentenced to 5 years in prison for kidnapping and raping underage Okinawan girl [December 14 & 15, 2024]