A U.S. Marine's alleged raping of an Okinawan minor girl on Sunday aroused anger and condemnation of local residents in the southern Japanese island in the past two days.
The assembly of Naha, the capital of Okinawa Prefecture, unanimously passed a resolution of protest on Tuesday, demanding that U.S. army officials, U.S. ambassador to Japan and Japanese prime minister find out the fact, apologize to the victim and her family members, and take action to prevent U.S. soldiers from committing crimes.
The assembly also called on the Japanese government to rethink its relationship with the United States and cut down the number of U.S. bases and servicemen on the island.
Okinawa city Mayor Mitsuko Tomon and other officials handed in person a letter of protest to the U.S. consulate general in Okinawa, demanding that the U.S. army enhance its moral education and reinforce its discipline.
The letter asked the U.S. side to publish as early as possible its measures to prevent a recurrence of such crime.
According to Japanese media, a women's group of Okinawa sent an open letter to U.S. President George W. Bush, demanding the evacuation U.S. forces from Okinawa.
A peace movement group waged a demonstration in front of a U.S. military base in Okinawa city, calling on the U.S. forces to launch a full-scale probe into the case.
Tyrone Hadnott, a 38-year-old staff sergeant belonging to the Camp Courtney base, was arrested Monday on suspicion of raping a 14-year-old local girl on Sunday night.
Hadnott was sent to prosecutors earlier Tuesday. He said he only touched the girl's body, denying the charge of raping.
Okinawa hosts about 75 percent of U.S. forces in Japan in terms of land occupied. In the past more than ten years, about 100 U.S. soldiers in Okinawa were sued on suspicion of raping local women. Such incidents strained the relationship between the U.S. army and local residents, and often led to anti-U.S. rallies.
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