OSAKA — With an unprecedented curfew on U.S. military personnel in Okinawa tentatively due to expire Monday, central government and prefectural officials are rushing to assure those living near U.S. bases that anticrime measures are being taken in the wake of the alleged Feb. 10 rape of a 14-year-old local girl by a marine.
But many in Okinawa worry the measures announced so far, which include the installation of off-base security cameras and having U.S. military and Okinawa police conduct joint patrols, are unlikely to be effective given the number of U.S. forces-related individuals who are scattered throughout the main island and live on and off base.
"The new measures don't mean a thing. Neither the Okinawa government nor the U.S. military has announced the details of the joint patrols, such as when and where they will take place. Given Okinawa's size and because U.S. military personnel live all over the place, the patrols are not going to be effective anyway," said Suzuyo Takazato, a former Naha assemblywoman who heads the Okinawan Women Act Against Military Violence, a Naha-based organization.