November 30, 2011
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2011 November 30 - December 6 [OKINAWA]
Okinawans angered by defense official’s ‘rape’ remark |
On the previous day, he reportedly said, “Would you say, ‘I will rape you’ before you rape someone?” as a response to avoid giving the release date of an environmental impact assessment for the construction of a new U.S. base in Okinawa.
Okinawa assembly member of the JCP Maeda Masaaki criticized the remark as “a sign of their arrogance to go ahead with the criminal conduct (to build a new base) here.”
Maeda expressed his determination to do all he can to block the release of the EIA, which is a prerequisite for the new base construction, and to have the U.S. Futenma base unconditionally closed.
A 35-year-old mother with her baby said, “I wonder what on earth he was thinking. The noise of helicopters from the Futenma base affects our lives every day.” An 80-year-old woman said, “We frequently witness crimes and accidents by U.S. military personnel and civilian employees. I want a peaceful Okinawa by removing all bases here.”
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In Tokyo, Dietmembers of all parties elected from the Okinawa constituency on November 29 made representations to Defense Minister Ichikawa Yasuo, protesting the remark made by Okinawa Defense Chief Tanaka Satoshi and demanding his immediate dismissal.
The group of eight Dietmembers included JCP Akamine Seiken, an independent, and others from the Democratic Party of Japan, Liberal Democratic, Social Democratic, and People’s New parties. They stated, “Tanaka’s statement is a slur on Okinawans and spits in the face of women. His remark is extremely inappropriate with a total lack of any sense of human rights.”
Akamine said, “I must question his intelligence” because the defense official described the controversial EIA issue with such violent language.
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