Japanese Take Custody of 3 U.S. Soldiers Accused of Rape

TOKYO â€”  Three U.S. servicemen who allegedly raped an Okinawa schoolgirl in a case that has outraged Japan were formally transferred to the custody of Japanese authorities Friday. The move ended, at least for the moment, outcry over one of the most controversial issues in the case: a bilateral agreement that gives American military suspects special rights to remain in U.S. custody until indictment.

The provision has been widely attacked here for obstructing police investigations and creating the risk that suspects will destroy evidence or flee the country, as occurred in another rape case two years ago.

Marine Pfc. Rodrico Harp, 21, and Pfc. Kendrick M. Ledet, 20, both of Georgia, and Navy Seaman Marcus D. Gill, 22, of Texas, had been charged earlier in the day with forcing the 12-year-old student into a rented van, beating her, constraining her with tape and raping her on an isolated beach.

Even as the case moved forward, however, backlash over the incident continued to spread.

Masahide Ota, governor of the southern island of Okinawa, where the rape allegedly occurred, informed central authorities Friday that he will refuse to sign renewals of land lease agreements for U.S. military facilities.

About 30,000 troops and 75% of the U.S. military facilities in Japan are located on Okinawa.

“Under the current circumstances, it is absolutely difficult,� he said.

Ota’s decision could jeopardize the use of about 10% of the U.S. military’s total Okinawa facilities, including those for weapon storage and communications.

Although more than 2,000 landowners have refused to sign lease contracts, the cities in which they live have seized their property under compulsory-use agreements.

Ota represents 35 landowners in four cities that are still rejecting such agreements.

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If Ota persists in his refusal, the central government may bring an administrative suit against him for failing to carry out his duties. If such a suit was successful, Socialist Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama would be placed in a hot seat requiring him to decide whether or not to sign in Ota’s stead.

For decades, the Socialists opposed U.S.-Japan security arrangements, but, in a major policy reversal, they affirmed them after taking power in the current coalition government.

Meanwhile, 3,000 Okinawans demonstrated this week in the largest anti-American protests since the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty was signed in 1960. Smaller rallies have been held in Tokyo and elsewhere.

“The nation has not had the opportunity to debate the security alliance since the end of the Cold War,� Hiromichi Umebayashi of the Pacific Campaign for Disarmament and Security told reporters.

At least 43 local assemblies have passed resolutions calling for a revision of special legal procedures for U.S. military suspects in the Status of Forces Agreement. Critics here say that the agreement is unfair, since Americans do not have similar privileges in Germany, and that those privileges reflect an outdated “occupation mentality.�

The United States and Japan have agreed to investigate ways to improve criminal procedures without revising the agreement itself.

Japanese officials, who this week signed a new defense pact raising financial support for U.S. troops here by 2%, fret that backlash over the rape case could begin to unravel the security pact itself.

Under that pact, the United States agrees to assume Japan’s defense responsibilities.

“A revision of the Status of Forces Agreement would awaken anti-Japanese sentiment in the United States, prompting them to oppose the current Japan-U.S. security arrangements,� one official told the newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun.

Moving to stem the public outcry, officials from President Clinton to Secretary of State Warren Christopher to Ambassador Walter F. Mondale have taken pains to express regrets or apologies. The White House also announced that it was considering offering compensation to the girl.

The U.S. Marine Corps suspended military training for a day to promote “reflection and renewed awareness of our obligations to the Okinawan people.�

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The corps also strengthened preventive measures at its Okinawa base camp, such as banning the sale of liquor after 9 p.m., compiling a list of those involved in misconduct, increasing joint patrols with local police and conducting workshops on violence.

But Japanese media coverage remains unrelenting, with some TV commentators declaring that the U.S. military should leave Japan or questioning why the public should pay so much to support it. One commentator questioned how the U.S. forces could defend Japan when they could not protect a 12-year-old girl from their own soldiers.