|
Manila: Filipino and Japanese activists marked International Women's Day a day early by marching to the US Embassy in Manila to demand the prosecution of American servicemen accused of raping a Japanese girl and a Filipino woman in Okinawa.
About 100 members of the Unity of Women group and four Japanese activists protested the US military presence in their countries on Friday, saying American troops pose a threat to women and children.
"Abuse of women and children abounds where US military personnel are stationed - this is true in Japan and Korea as well as Mindanao," said group spokeswoman Virginia Suarez Pinlac, referring to the southern Philippine region where US counterterrorism troops arm and train Filipino soldiers battling Al Qaida-linked militants.
Japanese activist Susumu Omori, a member of the Santama Peace Cycle group, said it was angered by the alleged rapes in Okinawa.
Protection
"The criminals should be punished by Philippine law and Japanese law," he said.
The US courts-martial protect their own soldiers, evading the judgments of the Philippine or Japanese courts, he added.
Riot police blocked the protesters' march about two blocks from the embassy. Last month, American and Japanese officials said a US serviceman was under investigation for the alleged sexual assault of a Filipino woman on the southern island of Okinawa, where a US Marine also was arrested on suspicion of raping a 14-year-old Japanese girl.
Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said the alleged rape was unforgivable. The US Marine denied rape and claimed he only kissed the teenager.
"It is unforgivable," Fukuda told a parliamentary panel in his first public comments on the latest incident on Okinawa. "It has happened over and over again in the past and I take it as a grave case."
Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba expressed anger over repeated incidents despite frequent promises by US officials to prevent them. "This will have a big impact on future US-Japan relations," he told a news conference.
The Filipino woman's case was still being investigated, officials said.
The cases added to a string of accusations that have fuelled anger over the heavy US military presence in Okinawa. About 50,000 US troops are based in Japan under a security pact between the two countries. Many Japanese complain of crime, pollution and noise associated with the bases. In 2006 a US Marine was convicted of raping a Filipino woman near Manila. He has been detained at the US Embassy instead of a local jail, triggering protests by left-wing activists.
|
