US envoy to Japan expresses regret over alleged sex crimes by military personnel in Okinawa
TOKYO — US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel expressed regret Saturday over the handling of two cases of sexual abuse allegedly committed by US military personnel on Okinawa. The case has renewed dissatisfaction with the large US troop presence on the strategic island in Japan’s far southwest.
The matter came to light late last month, sparking an outcry over reports that two US service members had been charged with sexual abuse months earlier.
Both cases were first reported in local media in late June. In one arrest in March, a U.S. Air Force member was accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a teenager, and in May, a U.S. Marine was arrested on charges of attempted rape resulting in injury. No further details about the alleged victims were released.
Okinawa police said they did not disclose the cases due to privacy concerns regarding the victims. The Foreign Ministry, according to a police order, also did not notify Okinawa prefectural officials.
The cases are a reminder to many Okinawans of the 1995 rape of a 12-year-old girl by three U.S. servicemen, which sparked mass protests against the U.S. presence. It led to a 1996 agreement between Tokyo and Washington to close a key U.S. air base, though the plan has been postponed repeatedly due to protests at the site designated as a replacement on another part of the island.
Emanuel said he deeply regretted what had happened to the individuals, their families and their community, but was not prepared to apologize. “Of course you have to let the criminal process take its course. But that doesn’t mean you can’t express your regrets on a human level.”
“We have to do better,” he said, adding that the U.S. military’s high standards and protocols for educating and training its troops “just weren’t working.”
Emanuel said the U.S. may propose measures to improve training and transparency to the public during security talks between the U.S. and Japanese foreign and defense ministers, expected in Tokyo later this month.
On Friday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said Japanese authorities would do their utmost to expedite the disclosure of alleged crimes against U.S. service members on Okinawa while protecting the privacy of victims.
The cases could be a setback for the defense relationship, especially as Okinawa becomes increasingly important amid rising tensions with China.
There are approximately 50,000 US troops deployed in Japan About half of them are on Okinawa, under a bilateral security pact. Residents have long complained about the large presence of American troops and the associated accidents, crime and noise pollution.
Emanuel commented on the issue during a visit to Fukushima, on Japan’s northeastern coast.
Earlier on Saturday, the ambassador visited the nearby town of Minamisoma to sample locally caught flounder for lunch with young surfers, with the aim of highlighting the safety of the area’s seawater and seafood amid the ongoing discharges of treated and diluted radioactive water of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant destroyed by the tsunami.
China has banned Japanese fish and seafood over the discharges, a move Emanuel calls unfair.