Tokyo, Dec 14 (IANS): Japanese citizens gathered outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo to protest sexual violence by US military personnel stationed in the country.
Earlier in the day, prior to the demonstration of Friday, a US Air Force serviceman was sentenced to five years in prison by the Naha District Court for abducting and sexually assaulting a Japanese girl under 16 in Okinawa in December 2023, Xinhua news agency reported.
The sentence was made on the grounds that the crime was a “major sexual infringement,” Judge Tetsuro Sato of Naha District Court said on Friday, according to media reports. “The girl’s testimony that she told her age by gestures and other means is sufficiently credible from the security camera footage,” the judge said.
Brennon R. E. Washington of the US Air Force was indicted on March 27 on charges of “non-consensual sexual intercourse” and “indecent kidnapping” after he was discovered to have taken a 16-year-old Japanese girl to his residence last December and sexually assaulted her, Japanese prosecutors said.
The US military handed the 25-year-old serviceman over to Japanese authorities on the same day. He was later released on bail and transferred to Kadena for custody, as per sources. His trial began on July 12.
Protesters condemned the act, stating that sexual violence by US military personnel is intolerable and that a five-year prison term is far too lenient compared to the suffering endured by the victim.
They also criticised the Japanese central government and police for failing to provide case-related information to the Okinawa prefectural government. Protesters demanded accountability from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for concealing details of the case.
Criminal incidents involving US military personnel in Japan have been a long-standing issue. According to Okinawa Prefecture statistics, approximately 6,200 criminal cases involving US military personnel and their dependents have been recorded in Okinawa from 1972 to 2023, including serious offences such as murder, rape, and robbery.