Tokyo (AFP) – US forces on Okinawa were barred on Wednesday from drinking alcohol for 48 hours and faced a 30-day curfew after the murder of a woman allegedly committed by an American Marine. The case has triggered outrage in Japan, where any crimes involving US forces have long inflamed criticism of the troops’ presence. Genta Koja, the governor of Okinawa — where the bulk of the 54,000 US military personnel in Japan are based — told Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during a meeting in Tokyo on Wednesday that there was an “urgent need to reduce base-related burdens” on the island, without providing specifics.
“The robbery-murder this time hugely shocked local residents,” he said, requesting a committee be convened swiftly to discuss the issue. Earlier, Benjamin T. Watson, Okinawa area coordinator and commanding general of III Marine Expeditionary Force, announced a “complete prohibition of alcohol consumption on or off base” starting Wednesday. Watson said that the 48-hour period — described as “an operational pause” — would give commanders the time to lead training with all service members on “standards, discipline, and our responsibilities as members of the Okinawan community”. Operations will cease during this period and “we will not allow off-base liberty”, said Watson in a statement posted on X late Tuesday.
The lieutenant general, the most senior US military figure on Okinawa, also announced a 30-day “period of reflection” beginning Friday. “During this period, we will implement a curfew in which liberty will expire at 2400 for all hands, meaning you must be back on base in your assigned quarters or at your off-base domicile from midnight to 0500”. Police said Sunday that a US Marine stationed on Okinawa was arrested on suspicion of killing a 39-year-old woman at a hotel in the city of Naha and stealing her wallet. Local media reported she was choked to death and that the Marine is denying the allegations. The United States has around 54,000 military personnel stationed in Japan, mostly on Okinawa.
– ‘Deep anxiety’ – Crimes committed by US personnel have been a thorn in relations between the close security allies. Koja, who won the gubernatorial election last month, is the first Okinawa leader in 12 years who approved of a contentious US military base relocation plan. The central government plan is to keep the US Marine Corps’ Futenma air base on Okinawa’s main island, but move it to a less populated location. On Wednesday, Koja also met Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi in Tokyo where he said the murder case had “caused deep anxiety” among Okinawa residents.
“The prefectural government has repeatedly demanded that the US military take measures to prevent a recurrence every time an incident occurs, but the fact that such an incident has happened again forces us to conclude that discipline within the US forces and their human rights education are not functioning at all,” he told Koizumi. Koizumi said that he would “advance discussions with the United States on how to implement effective measures” to prevent such incidents occurring. Last year, a Japanese court sentenced a US Marine accused of choking and attempting to rape a woman in her 20s to seven years in prison. In 2017, a former US Marine and civilian military base worker was sentenced to life in prison for the rape and murder of a local woman in Okinawa. The same year, US Forces Japan banned all personnel from consuming alcohol after an intoxicated US Marine crashed his vehicle into a mini-truck, killing its 61-year-old local driver.
© 2024 AFP
