Japan Press Weekly

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2014 December 24 - 2015 January 6 [US FORCES]

JCP Okinawa protests against crimes & accidents caused by US military

Representatives of the Japanese Communist Party Okinawa Prefectural Committee visited the Okinawa Defense Bureau on December 25, demanding that the bureau lodge a protest to the U.S. forces in regard to the high occurrence of serious crimes and accidents.

In December alone, three alcohol-related crimes by U.S. servicemen were committed and four accidents happened during U.S. military drills in the prefecture.

In response to the JCP members’ request, a bureau official said that they requested the U.S. to enforce discipline among military personnel as well as implement recurrence prevention measures.

JCP member of the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly Kayo Sogi demanded the removal of all the U.S. bases in Okinawa, saying, “We’ve heard the phrase ‘enforcement of discipline’ thousands of times for nearly 70 years since World War II ended. That has been proven to be ineffective.”

On the same day, JCP prefectural assembly members’ groups in Kochi and Tokyo separately made representations to the authorities, seeking a stop to U.S. military exercises.

In Kochi, JCP legislators urged the prefecture to demand an immediate stop to the low-altitude flight training exercises being carried out by the U.S. military.

In Tokyo, JCP lawmakers submitted a written request to the metropolitan government, calling on the local authority to urge both the central government and the U.S. forces to cancel the U.S.-planned parachute landing drills at the Yokota Air Base.

In the representations, JCP metropolitan assembly member Oshima Yoshie pointed to the fact that a total of 150 U.S. servicemen are going to parachute onto the base during the five-day exercise which begins on January 5. She warned that conducting such dangerous drills in the densely populated areas may lead to serious accidents.


Past related articles:
> Drunken US soldier arrested for attacking police officer [December 20, 2014]
> JCP local assembly members in Kochi call for investigation into US military jet’s low-altitude flights [December 20, 2014]
> US increasing training drills of cargo planes over Tokyo [May 29, 2014]