Okinawa People Stage Rally against Sexual Assaults by U.S. Servicemen

   Okinawa, Dec. 22 (Jiji Press)--Over 2,500 people staged a rally in the city of Okinawa on Sunday to protest sexual assaults on local girls by U.S. servicemen stationed in the southern Japan prefecture of Okinawa.
   They adopted a resolution demanding that the Japanese and U.S. governments apologize and compensate the victims, provide information promptly when such incidents occur, and revise the Japan-U.S. status of forces agreement, which governs U.S. troops stationed in Japan.
   "Sexual violence that tramples on the dignity of women and children should never occur," said Junko Iraha, chief of a local citizens' group and a member of the rally's organizing committee.
   Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki said, "I feel keenly that we need to be stricter and speak louder about the situation in which many residents of the prefecture are forced to co-exist with U.S. military bases amid anxiety."
   Sorane Sakihama, a 22-year-old college student who spoke as a representative of young people, asked, "Do we have to be deprived of our youth because we were born in Okinawa and there are bases?"

(2024/12/22-18:15)

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