Okinawa assembly protests alleged sexual assaults by U.S. troops

TOKYO, July 10 (Xinhua) -- The assembly of Japan's southernmost prefecture Okinawa on Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution and a statement protesting a series of recent sexual crime cases involving U.S. troops stationed in the prefecture.

In the resolution, addressed to the United States, including U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, the assembly condemned the cases as "extremely malicious crimes that trample on human dignity" and expressed "anger from all our bodies."

The prefectural assembly said that behind the cases were "problems with the organizational awareness of human rights," and called on the U.S. side to present residents of Okinawa with concrete and effective measures to prevent a recurrence, such as a tightening of discipline.

The assembly also adopted a written statement, directed at the Japanese government, including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, urging the central government to quickly share information about such crimes with the Okinawa prefectural government.

Both the resolution and statement call for fundamental revisions to the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, noting that it affords special treatment to U.S. military personnel in Japan.

A delegation of assembly members will go to Tokyo to visit the U.S. embassy, the Foreign Ministry and elsewhere to directly pass on the documents as early as this month.

The move by the prefectural parliament of Okinawa follows the recent revelation that a U.S. Marine member has been indicted on charges of nonconsensual sexual intercourse resulting in injury and a U.S. Air Force member for allegedly kidnapping a girl under the age of 16 and committing nonconsensual sexual intercourse.