February 23, 2008
Enough of Military Sexual Violence
NO to US Bases of Insecurity
We rage over the reported rape of a Filipina in Okinawa by a sergeant of the US Army. We urge the victim and her family to file charges, push for the soldier’s arrest and fight for justice and retribution. We support the Japanese people’s demand for the withdrawal of US troops and the complete dismantling of the US military facilities.
The spate of rapes by US soldiers since last year in Japan is very alarming. It is becoming very clear that US military’s steps at curbing incidence of rape will never be enough to assure the Japanese public that their women and children will be safe. US Forces Japan spokesman Colonel Eric Schnaible claimed that ”the (US) Army does not tolerate sexual assault” but experience show that the US government has been shielding its erring soldiers from the hands of law of host countries.
This latest rape happened a few hours before the onset of a 24-hour curfew set by the US military for its personnel following the rape of a 14-year-old school girl. The soldiers seemed unmindful of the Article 32 hearing of a case of gang rape filed against four members of the US Marines based in Iwakuni near Hiroshima. This should have warned them against committing a crime that may lead them to a court martial.
Clearly, women in places where US bases are are not safe. In South Korea, this February, a Private First Class in Seoul raped a 19-year-old woman. Last year, in November, Korean authorities arrested six US soldiers that beat a female in a restaurant. In January 2007, Korean police held a US soldier for the rape of a 67- year-old woman in Seoul.
The rape in November 1, 2005 in the former military base in Subic, Zambales in the Philippines was also a crime along these that happened in Japan and in Korea. Although, officially the Military Bases Agreement with the United States ended in1991, the US military have reestablished their bases in several places Philippines, using the term “visiting forces” as their cover. Nicole’s rapists were in Subic for their rest and recreation (R and R).
We echo Mieko Hokama, a Japanese activist: “We have already had more than enough.”
The bases are sources of insecurity for the people of host countries. These bases make women and children more vulnerable to sexual harassment, rape, beatings and murder by alienated and drunken troops. As we in the Philippines demand that US troops get out, we in KAISA-KA (Unity of Women for Freedom-Philippines) and KPD (Movement for National Democracy-Philippines) support the Japanese people’s call for the dismantling of the US military bases and the complete withdrawal of US troops from Japanese territory. ###
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