Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda promised on Thursday to intensify calls on the Japan-based U.S. forces for strict military discipline and more effective preventive measures.
According to Japanese media, Fukuda made the pledge during meeting with Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima, who was in Tokyo to talk with the central government about a rape case involving a U.S. Marine in the southern Japanese prefecture.
Nakaima told reporters that he conveyed the anger of local civilians to the prime minister and asked the central government to urge for improved moral education and preventive measures from the U.S. forces.
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 Okinawan girl on Sunday night.
Hadnott was sent to prosecutors earlier Tuesday. He admitted touching the girl's body, but denied 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 repeated crimes strained the relationship between the U.S. army and local residents, and often led to anti-U.S. rallies.
Source: Xinhua
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