U.S. Marine arrested for raping 14-year-old girl in Okinawa

   On February 10, a U.S. Marine raped a 14-year-old girl in Chatan Town in Okinawa. In the prefecture, U.S. servicemen have repeatedly committed vicious crimes, including a gang-rape of an elementary school girl in 1995. Okinawans bitterly resent the recent crime and strengthen their call for the removal of U.S. bases.

   The Japanese Communist Party Okinawa Prefectural Committee lodged a strong protest with the Okinawa Defense Bureau and Foreign Ministry Okinawa Office. The Okinawa Prefectural government as well as the Okinawa City and Chatan Town governments made representations to the U.S. forces in Okinawa demanding apology and a drastic measure to solve the issue.

   The Okinawa Prefectural Police on February 11 arrested Tyrone Hadnott, 38, based at Camp Courtney, on suspicion of raping the junior high school girl in his car parked near a park in Chatan Town around 10:35 p.m. on February 10.

   In the wake of the 1995 gang rape incident, Okinawans carried out strong protest actions demanding a drastic revision of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) as well as reductions in the number of U.S. bases in Okinawa. The government, however, has refused to revise the SOFA. Since 1973 when Okinawa was returned to Japan, the number of known crimes committed by U.S. servicemen in Okinawa has surpassed 5,000.
- Akahata, February 13, 2008