Friday, March 1, 2013

Blog 5: Japanese Court Convicts 2 U.S. Sailors in Okinawa Rape


On Friday, a Japanese court convicted two United States sailors in the rape of a woman on Okinawa last year. The rape provoked so much local anger, that the American military was forced to impose a curfew.  The court in Naha convicted one sailor, Christopher Browning, to ten years in prison. The other sailor convicted, Skyler Dozierwalker, received nine years in prison. Mr. Browning was also convicted of robbing the victim of 76 dollars. The crime angered many Okinawans, who also said that American bases bring crime, noise pollution, and safety hazards to their islands. The attack left the woman with physical injuries that took two weeks to heal. The judge, Hideyuki Suzuki, called the Americans actions “contemptible and violent” The sailors will spend their time in a Japanese prison.

This crime against a local has caused more anger from the Okinawans. They already disliked the American bases being on their land. The military is known to have an image of providing safety but this incident does not help build that image. With this much anger from the Okinawans they might decide to become violent. If they did this could cause other problems. The U.S has a good relationship with Japan, however, this can change with incidents like this one. The Okinawans land should be respected so the Americans and Okinawans can live in peace. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/02/world/asia/japanese-court-convicts-2-us-sailors-in-okinawa-rape.html

7:51 pm
03/01/13

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