Two US Navy Sailors (both 23) Arrested for Rape in Okinawa

[TennoChinko]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/17/world ... -rape.html

October 16, 2012
Arrests of 2 U.S. Sailors in Rape Case Threaten to Fan Okinawa’s Anger
By MARTIN FACKLER The New York Times

TOKYO — Two United States Navy sailors were arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of raping a woman in Okinawa, local news reports said, an episode likely to fan anger on an island increasingly outraged over the presence of a large American base.

The news agency Jiji Press said that the two sailors, both 23, were arrested before dawn on Tuesday. One admitted to the rape, the agency said, while the other denied involvement. The Okinawan police refused to comment on the report, but the American ambassador to Japan, John V. Roos, said the United States government was “extremely concerned.”

“These allegations, given their seriousness, will continue to command my full personal attention,” Mr. Roos said in a statement.

The case comes two weeks after the arrival of 12 new Marine Corps transport aircraft touched off huge protests among islanders. The aircraft, the MV-22 Osprey, has experienced crashes in development, and islanders fear for the packed city where the American base is situated. The small tropical island hosts more than half of the roughly 50,000 United States military members stationed in Japan.

Crimes by American servicemen have been a longstanding complaint of Okinawans, who, like residents of the rest of Japan, enjoy crime rates that are far below those in the United States. The rape of a 12-year-old schoolgirl in Okinawa by three Americans in 1995 set off mass protests against the United States military presence.

NHK, Japan’s national broadcaster, said the woman in the new case was attacked on a roadside as she was walking home, resulting in injuries to her neck. It said that she later identified the two Americans when the police took her to an off-base housing area.

NHK quoted Okinawa’s governor, Hirokazu Nakaima, as saying that he felt shock and anger, and he called the crime “hard to forgive.” He said he protested directly to the United States military in Okinawa, the American Consulate and the prime minister’s office in Tokyo.

One question now is whether the arrests will touch off a new round of protests by Okinawans, whose frustrations rose three years ago when the prime minister at the time, Yukio Hatoyama, promised to move one base, the Futenma air station, off the island, only to renege. The Ospreys, which take off like a helicopter and fly like a plane, were deployed at Futenma, leading activists to stage sit-ins to block gates to the base and even fly kites in an effort to interfere with flights.

Local newspapers in Okinawa, which are strongly anti-base, give intense coverage to crimes by American military personnel and their families. NHK reported that the new rape case was the seventh to result in the arrest of American servicemen since the United States returned Okinawa to Japan in 1972.

[Coligny]

They should have applied for a teaching position first...

http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2012/08/0 ... arassment/

[Samurai_Jerk]

Are there any statistics that compare the crime rate (especially violent crime) of military personal and their dependents with that of the locals living in the same area?

[TennoChinko]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/jap ... story.html

Japan protests alleged rape by U.S. sailors

By Chico Harlan, Published: October 17

TOKYO — Japan lodged a protest with the United States on Wednesday over the alleged rape of a Japanese woman by two U.S. sailors on Okinawa, an island that long has bristled about the heavy American military presence there.

The sailors, identified as Seaman Christopher Browning and Petty Officer 3rd Class Skyler Dozierwalker, of the Fort Worth Naval Air Station in Texas, were arrested Tuesday. Both are described as 23 years old.

The woman, in her 20s, was allegedly attacked while walking home early Tuesday. The men had been drinking beforehand, Japanese media reported.

The allegation, described by Japanese Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto as “very serious,” appears likely to complicate the long-standing efforts by Tokyo and Washington to build a new U.S. Marine base on Okinawa, a step that island residents have fiercely resisted.

With the two sailors in Okinawan police’s custody, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official summoned U.S. Ambassador John V. Roos to a meeting and asked for stricter discipline of American military personnel on the island. The incident recalls the 1995 rape of an Okinawan schoolgirl by three American servicemen, which prompted mass protests and remains a source of bitterness on the southern island.

“I understand — I do understand the anger that many people feel with respect to this reported incident,” Roos said Wednesday in a statement, adding that he shared some of that anger.

The ambassador promised “full and complete and unequivocal cooperation to the Japanese authorities in their investigation of this matter.”

Okinawa hosts many of the almost 50,000 U.S. military personnel stationed in Japan. Washington has tried for years to close the base there and relocate it in a less populated northern area of the island, but Okinawans oppose the construction of any new bases and have blocked those efforts. Some of the islanders’ resentment is also directed at the central government in Tokyo, which they think uses the island as a far-flung dumping ground for American troops.

Okinawans staged a number of protests recently over the deployment of 12 MV-22 Osprey aircraft at a Marine base in the middle of a densely packed city on the island. The hybrid aircraft, which take off like helicopters but fly like planes, have a spotty safety record.

In another meeting Wednesday, Morimoto, the defense minister, told Okinawan Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima that the alleged rape incident is “extremely heinous and despicable,” according to Japan’s Kyodo news agency.

“It hurts the Japan-U.S. security arrangements and the Okinawa people’s trust in the U.S. military,” Morimoto said.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Skyler A. Dozierwalker, Ft. Worth Naval Air Station, TX in a mugshot taken two years ago after a charge of public intoxication.

[TennoChinko]

Are there any statistics that compare the crime rate (especially violent crime) of military personal and their dependents with that of the locals living in the same area?

The current overall crime rate of locals in Okinawa : US military personnel is said to be 6 times greater. [TIME article: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/artic ... -4,00.html ]
However, the general public perception and claims from activists (who obviously have a bone to pick) is that the ratio is reversed - with some claiming that the crime rate amongst US military is 10 times greater than the local population.

If you talk to real old-timers - whether in Okinawa or on the mainland - there used to be a time where a lot of crimes by US military personnel would go unreported or escape prosecution - which probably contributes to the current misperception.

And, even if it was more than 17 years ago, the 1995 gang-rape of the 12 year schoolgirl still remains etched in the memories of many:


And, oh yeah, there is a racial aspect to it as noted in the TIME article:

The crimes haven't all been petty. U.S. troops of all races have committed atrocities in Okinawa, particularly sexual assaults. In the years following World War II, locals say, rapes by U.S. servicemen were shockingly rampant--but the U.S. military, which governed the islands then, has no record of any such crimes. In more recent years, the list of crimes makes shameful reading for any American: July 2000, a 19-year-old Marine is charged with molesting a 14-year-old girl; January 2000, a Marine lifts the skirt of a 16-year-old to take a picture of her underwear. But the crimes committed by blacks are particularly noted and remembered by Okinawans, and few seemed surprised when the three servicemen who raped the 12-year-old girl turned out to be black.

"When a suspect is black and from the military, people here assume he must be guilty," says Annette Eddie-Callagain, an African-American lawyer. "Meanwhile, whenever something happens, the rest of us think, Oh, please, don't let him be black." Eddie-Callagain and two Japanese lawyers represent Woodland, who has pleaded not guilty and argues that the sex was consensual. Eddie-Callagain admits the politically charged atmosphere and the Japanese judicial system stack the odds against her client. "Here you're guilty until proved innocent," says Eddie-Callagain, who returned to Okinawa in 1995 to set up an independent practice after leaving the Air Force. "In Japan the criminal-justice system is run by prosecutors," she says. "Defense lawyers are just bystanders."

But this is what happened to three black US Marines who allegedly terrorized an Okinawan village by repeatedly raping women and girls in 1945. The villagers killed them and buried them in a cave until they were discovered in 1997. Somehow the local name of the cave "Kurombo Gama" or literally Nigger Cave didn't give cause for anyone to think about the reason for its name

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_th ... s_incident

And, sometimes in the case of hit & run accidents, some still do try to 'escape' to the 'safety' of the bases. And, they still try as it often does increase the probability of getting away with it:

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20120814zg.html

THE ZEIT GIST
Yokosuka rape victim takes fight for justice to U.S. courts

By SIMON SCOTT
Australian Catherine Jane Fisher, who was raped by a U.S. Navy sailor in Yokosuka in 2002, has now taken her case for compensation all the way to the U.S. courts.


Confident of victory: Catherine Fisher is a step closer to seeing justice after a court in Milwaukee agreed to consider her case seeking compensation for rape from former U.S. Navy serviceman Bloke T. Deans. COURTESY OF CATHERINE FISHER

A civil judgment by a Tokyo court in 2004 ordered Bloke T. Deans to pay ¥3 million in damages to Fisher as compensation for the rape, but by the time the ruling was issued, Deans had already left the country. The Japanese courts were unable to enforce the ruling and Fisher never received a penny from Deans.

Fisher did eventually receive some compensation, but it was not until 2008 and the money came from a Japanese Ministry of Defense fund for victims of crimes committed by U.S. military personnel.

In May this year Fisher filed a lawsuit in Milwaukee, where Deans is currently resident, in an attempt to have the Japanese judgment against him enforced in the U.S.

Fisher says she decided to file the suit at this late juncture in part because, after going public about the case, she was contacted by a woman in the U.S. who claims she, too, was raped by Deans. Fisher says she can't disclose the victim's identity because of fears for the woman's safety, but she wants to ensure no one else has to suffer the way she did.

"When I heard the other woman was raped, I thought, 'I can't give up — not now that other victims have become involved," she says. "So that is why I continue."

She also wants Deans to be brought to account for what he did, especially as she never had the chance to see Deans face charges in a criminal court.

"It is like someone just running away. He received immunity — like a diplomat or something," fisher says. "He needs to stand up and take responsibility for raping me."

Fisher also discovered earlier this year that Deans had committed other unrelated crimes in the U.S.

According to Wisconsin court records, he was sentenced earlier this year to 45 days in prison in Milwaukee County for child neglect. Media reported at the time that police found three of his children — a 2-year-old and two 3-year-old twins — abandoned in his house in a room bolted on the outside, severely distressed and covered in their own feces and urine.

Disturbed by the news Deans was still out there harming people, and longing for closure, Fisher decided take her case to the U.S. courts.

"I still have not received closure and I should not have had to fight for it 10 years, but that is what has happened," she explains. "For 10 years I never gave up this fight — even though the Japanese and U.S. governments tried to turn a blind eye to it, sweep it under the carpet and pretend it didn't happen."

Despite Deans being found guilty in a civil court judgment in 2004 in Japan, he has not been charged in criminal court with rape by Japanese or U.S. authorities.

U.S. Forces Japan said in a statement that the Japanese government had primary jurisdiction in the case and the prosecutor elected not to indict Deans after police investigated.

The U.S. Navy also investigated the case and the convening authority, Commander Naval Forces Japan, determined there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Deans.

After the investigation ended, Deans was given an honorable discharge as his term of military service had by then expired.

Fisher's lawsuit is somewhat of a landmark, because it is thought to be the first time someone has tried to have a Japanese civil court ruling for a rape case applied in the United States.

Fisher's U.S. attorney, Christopher Hanewicz, of Perkins Coie, says U.S. courts have a strong history of enforcing judgments made in foreign courts, such as the 2004 decision in Fisher's favor.


Named and shamed: Catherine Fisher — formerly known in media reports as Jane — holds a picture of rapist Bloke T. Deans at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in March. SIMON SCOTT

"We believe the Japanese court reached the right result after a thoughtful analysis of the record. And we believe the Milwaukee Circuit Court should recognize that decision and enforce it against Mr. Deans," he says.

In response to Fisher's suit, Dean's attorneys, Alex Flynn & Associates, filed a motion to dismiss the complaint on what appear to be primarily jurisdictional and technical grounds.

The defendant's motion, a copy of which was supplied to The Japan Times, names as one of its objections the fact that the official English translation of the original 2004 ruling names the defendant as "Broke Deans" rather than "Bloke Deans."

Fisher's counsel then counter-argued that this was simply the result of the classic Japanese "r/l" translation error.

To quote from the plaintiff's brief: "The Japanese alphabet does not have sounds that perfectly and phonetically correlate to the English 'r' and 'l,' and the 'ro' and 'lo' sounds are represented by the same letter."

Another objection related to an error that occurred when the original Japanese judgment was photocopied and the official court certification page was obscured.

Hanewicz says he believes Dean's objections are "trivial and overly technical" and should not get in the way of the case proceeding.

He adds that he is impressed with the strength Fisher has shown over the years in continuing to seek justice. "We are proud to represent her in this case and hope that we can help give her some sense of closure.

"I hope that this case sends a message to victims of rape that there are people out there who care, and who will stand beside them as they work within our system of justice to be heard and to be vindicated," he says.

A hearing is scheduled for Sept. 6 in Milwaukee, and the court will decide then whether to proceed with the case.

Send comments on this issue and story ideas to community@japantimes.co.jp
The Japan Times: Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012

[Mike Oxlong]

How do you think the members of Squeal Team Six get in enough training to take on Bin Laid'n?

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

How do you think the members of Squeal Team Six get in enough training to take on Bin Laid'n?

They gang-raped Bin Laden?

[Mike Oxlong]

I wonder what the fuck up was in the chain of command. I've heard that newly posted servicemen have to go through an orientation of sorts before they are unleashed upon the general public on Okinawa, yet these two yokels stationed in Texas were able to leave base during mandated rest time between flights and get a hotel in town before stalking their prey...

[legion]

Are there any statistics that compare the crime rate (especially violent crime) of military personal and their dependents with that of the locals living in the same area?

I take your point but the military represent their country and should behave as such.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I take your point but the military represent their country and should behave as such.

What, and kill everyone?

[Coligny]

Awesome... it took me all mah strength yesturday not to say anything too stupid... thanks for filling in bro'

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Awesome... it took me all mah strength yesturday not to say anything too stupid... thanks for filling in bro'

[GomiGirl]

Are there any statistics that compare the crime rate (especially violent crime) of military personal and their dependents with that of the locals living in the same area?

I take your point but the military represent their country and should behave as such.

They are not Olympians... they are probably just guys that joined up as they couldn't get a good job otherwise. They may not feel like they are representing their country. I think you are expecting too much from the average grunt.

The military gives awesome skill training and structure but it takes a while for it sink in for some people - if at all.

[Mike Oxlong]

They are in lockdown.

Effective Immediately: USFJ has instituted a curfew for all U.S. Military personnel in Japan every day until further notice from 2300-0500. During the curfew times all military personnel must be on base, in an off base residence or hotel room. The curfew is not a punishment but supports the USFJ mission to take a strong stance concerning the events of 16 October in Okinawa.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

The military gives awesome skill training and structure but it takes a while for it sink in for some people - if at all.

Where is Sgt. Hartmann when we really need him? (I suppose I shouldn't be wishing too hard because Pvt. Pyle shot him, but...)

[Mike Oxlong]

Yep. Gunny had his shit squared away. Not these clowns...

Navy lifts midnight curfew on sailors in Japan

Junior sailors in Japan no longer have their off-hours restricted after Navy officials lifted the liberty card program last week.

The program that imposed midnight curfews on sailors between the pay grades of E-1 and E-4 was canceled on Friday in a memo issued by the 7th Fleet commander, Vice Adm. Scott Swift, and Commander Naval Forces Japan Rear Adm. Dan Cloyd.

“The liberty card program treats all E4 and junior sailors as if they are expected to engage in misconduct – this occurs in only a very small minority of E4 and junior sailors,” the memo stated. “The decision to cancel the liberty card program is in recognition that the vast majority of our sailors are overwhelmingly outstanding.”

The cancellation will return responsibility to commanding officers to develop policies governing sailor conduct, 7th Fleet officials told Stars and Stripes on Wednesday.

The basic program has been known in previous years by names like the Exceptional Sailor Program and went through periodic revisions since appearing in its most recent form in 2004. Its introduction was largely viewed at the time as a move to mollify the concerns of Japanese civic groups and officials, following a spate of off-base incidents involving sailors and Japanese nationals.

Under the liberty card program, sailors in pay grades E-4 and below had to apply for unrestricted liberty through their commands, which issued color-coded cards that identified their status to shore patrol officials.

The Marines and Air Force adopted similar programs during the past decade, following separate incidents in Okinawa...

Stars & Stripes

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Isn't "liberty" the Merkin word for French fries?

[GomiGirl]

Nah - that is Freedom Fries.

[Level3]

Are there any statistics that compare the crime rate (especially violent crime) of military personal and their dependents with that of the locals living in the same area?

Unlike "sources" based on hearsay coming from people with a grudge, here's the stats from the Okinawa police, who are kind enough to also tell us how many arrests were made of SOFA/US military

http://www.police.pref.okinawa.jp/johok ... _keiho.pdf

An example from the most recent full year of stats

4,157 people arrested in 2010 in Okinawa.
71 of them were US servicemen. So 1.7% of people arrested.

1,400,000 people live in Okinawa
About 25,000 are SOFAs, which amounts too...

1.7% of the population!

No significant difference. So now we can understand why the protesters generally like to use anecdotes instead of statistics, or if they do use stats, just make them up.
If you want to use crime as an excuse to kick the US out, then if you're honest, the same logic means you should demand every Okinawan named Suzuki, or every Okinawan with a blue shirt, or every Okinawan who likes natto, or every Okinawan who protests against the bases, also be kicked out. The resulting effect on the crime rate will be the same.

The issue should be one of getting justice and throwing the scum in jail if they're guilty.. not the anti-base crowd using (unfounded, and basically racist) claims that the US military are causing more crime than Japanese, so the bases should go. I find it so amusing that the self-proclaimed anti-racism crowd has nothing to say about racist claims and racism-tinged propaganda against US soldiers. But they tend to be quite selective in their outrage, such as against Japanese schoolchildren saying "Hello!" to crybaby white guys .. those microaggressive little bastards.

[Coligny]

I find it so amusing that the self-proclaimed anti-racism crowd has nothing to say about racist claims and racism-tinged propaganda against US soldiers. But they tend to be quite selective in their outrage, such as against Japanese schoolchildren saying "Hello!" to crybaby white guys .. those microaggressive little bastards.

Maybe also they ...

awww fuck that...

Somebody fill in for mee please... Meanwhile I'll go dry humping yanpa to have the redsnotz back...

[yanpa]

Meanwhile I'll go dry humping yanpa to have the redsnotz back...

You'll have to come up with a better method of persuasion than that, I'm not Greji.

[Coligny]

Tssss... I have to dressup for Greji...

91e785e117c57c6f1e8eee68b43ae580.image.300x400.jpg

And if he has been a naughty boy:

goat-on-train.jpg

[Russell]

Meanwhile I'll go dry humping yanpa to have the redsnotz back...

You'll have to come up with a better method of persuasion than that, I'm not Greji.

YANPA!

WE NEED SNOT!!!

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I find it so amusing that the self-proclaimed anti-racism crowd has nothing to say about racist claims and racism-tinged propaganda against US soldiers. But they tend to be quite selective in their outrage, such as against Japanese schoolchildren saying "Hello!" to crybaby white guys .. those microaggressive little bastards.

Well said!

[Coligny]

Well except for the fact that, coming from a 'garnison' town (Verdun) where battletanks had the right of the way, and were passing quite often in front of my window. I can relate to the fact that living near a military base is a pita. No matter the flag involved... It's not a drawback only situation (especially with the krauts so close)... but definately not unicorns and rainbows all week long...

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Well except for the fact that, coming from a 'garnison' town (Verdun) where battletanks had the right of the way, and were passing quite often in front of my window. I can relate to the fact that living near a military base is a pita. No matter the flag involved... It's not a drawback only situation (especially with the krauts so close)... but definately not unicorns and rainbows all week long...

I reckon Verdun is probably haunted, too...

[matsuki]

Are there any statistics that compare the crime rate (especially violent crime) of military personal and their dependents with that of the locals living in the same area?

Unlike "sources" based on hearsay coming from people with a grudge, here's the stats from the Okinawa police, who are kind enough to also tell us how many arrests were made of SOFA/US military

http://www.police.pref.okinawa.jp/johok ... _keiho.pdf

An example from the most recent full year of stats

4,157 people arrested in 2010 in Okinawa.
71 of them were US servicemen. So 1.7% of people arrested.

1,400,000 people live in Okinawa
About 25,000 are SOFAs, which amounts too...

1.7% of the population!

No significant difference. So now we can understand why the protesters generally like to use anecdotes instead of statistics, or if they do use stats, just make them up.
If you want to use crime as an excuse to kick the US out, then if you're honest, the same logic means you should demand every Okinawan named Suzuki, or every Okinawan with a blue shirt, or every Okinawan who likes natto, or every Okinawan who protests against the bases, also be kicked out. The resulting effect on the crime rate will be the same.

The issue should be one of getting justice and throwing the scum in jail if they're guilty.. not the anti-base crowd using (unfounded, and basically racist) claims that the US military are causing more crime than Japanese, so the bases should go. I find it so amusing that the self-proclaimed anti-racism crowd has nothing to say about racist claims and racism-tinged propaganda against US soldiers. But they tend to be quite selective in their outrage, such as against Japanese schoolchildren saying "Hello!" to crybaby white guys .. those microaggressive little bastards.

Yep...wonder why these stats are anywhere in the media here? The tards are individuals, if they are guilty, let em rot in Okinawan prison and be done with the "outrage"

[yanpa]

Meanwhile I'll go dry humping yanpa to have the redsnotz back...

You'll have to come up with a better method of persuasion than that, I'm not Greji.

YANPA!

WE NEED SNOT!!!

Now it's autumn, just take a paper cup and hold it under the noses of people on the train, it will be full in no time.

[Russell]

Meanwhile I'll go dry humping yanpa to have the redsnotz back...

You'll have to come up with a better method of persuasion than that, I'm not Greji.

YANPA!

WE NEED SNOT!!!

Now it's autumn, just take a paper cup and hold it under the noses of people on the train, it will be full in no time.

Hmm. All these snotters wear face masks don't they?

[Russell]

Off-base bar owners lamenting military curfew in Japan

For Tsutomu Arakaki, owner of Amazonesu, one of the oldest bars near Kadena, it’s a little too much déjà vu. A similar curfew 14 years ago forced him to shut down for a year. Now he’s planning to collect signatures on a petition seeking compensation from the Japanese government for losses caused by the latest crackdown.