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New Okinawa rape allegation probed

The US military and Japanese police said yesterday they were investigating new allegations of rape by a US serviceman in Okinawa amid uproar after a string of criminal cases.

The case was revealed one day after the US military imposed a sweeping curfew on troops and their families in a bid to stem public anger in Japan.

A Filipina woman reported to police that she was raped by a member of the US Army at a hotel in Okinawa on Monday, a police officer said. She was injured and is receiving medical treatment at a hospital, the officer said.

"We are investigating the case carefully," the police officer said, adding that the soldier was in US military custody.

"The US Army takes this matter very seriously," Army spokeswoman Dottie Vick said. "Army authorities are investigating and will continue to fully cooperate with the Okinawa prefectural police."

The alleged rape was the latest case this month to damage the image of US forces in Japan.

Okinawa police arrested a US Marine -- Staff Sergeant Tyrone Luther Hadnott, 38 -- on Feb. 11 on allegations he raped a 14-year-old girl in his car. Hadnott has admitted trying to forcibly kiss the teenager but denied raping her.

The main opposition Democratic Party filed a demand with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's Cabinet asking for immediate action to prevent further alleged crimes by US troops.

"We are so fed up," Mieko Hokama, a member of a group that opposes US bases, said at a meeting in Tokyo with members of parliament. "We have already had more than enough."

An Australian woman, who was deemed by a Japanese court to have been raped by a US navy man in 2002 in Yokosuka said Japan has been like a "combat zone" even after World War II.

"Even since the war, there have been so many rape cases by US servicemen in Japan," said the woman, who only identified herself as Jane.

"I speak about my case because I don't think the 14-year-old girl could talk about hers right here," she said outside parliament.

Three US Marines gangraped a 12-year-old girl in Okinawa in 1995, leading to huge protests that set in motion a process under which the US agreed to withdraw 8,000 troops from the island. Since the 1995 incident, Okinawa police said they have investigated 14 cases of rape allegedly committed by US servicemen until the end of last year.
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