| Japanese 日本語版 「イラクで売春宿経営と批判された元人間の盾日本人女性」 | |
| A Japanese woman, formerly a "human shield", has been accused of running a prostitution house in Iraq. Last year, Japanese nationals suffered several serious accidents, such as the kidnapping of five Japanese including Naoko Takato and the killing of Koda. In addition to this, Ms. Muragishi, the former "human shield", has been criticized as the alleged owner of a prostitution house.... Cardel Net is a website for the Iraqi Communist Party, which has continually protested both Saddam Hussein's dictatorship and the Iraqi War. Now this party has focused its energy on the elimination American influence in Iraq. On their website is an article, dated 2004 Dec.12th, about Yukiko Muragishi. The article alleges she was one of the prostitutes and the eventual owner of the prostitution house in Baghdad. The author, Samil Obed, was an Iraqi journalist against Saddam's dictatorship. The introduction to the article describes how a Japanese woman, Yukiko Muragishi, came to Iraq before the war, willingly becoming one of Saddam`s "human shields". She remained in Iraq after the war in order to run a brothel in the Green Zone of Baghdad,which was an American occupied territory. This brothel entertained American marines and Iraqi politicians, enabling Ms. Muragishi to become very influential and wealthy. The article goes on to warn Iraqi leaders staying in the Presidential Palace in the Green Zone: as long as the American marines are allowed to remain there and enjoy the available prostitution, everyone`s prayers will be wasted. Two days after the above article was published, a Jordanian weekly magazine called “Assabil” described a special topic in another article about "crazy parties" with alcohol and sex, held for American soldiers in Iraq. This was the same place in the Green Zone, and was even inside of the former Presidential Palace. This information was provided by Iraqis who work there as cleaners or construction workers. The Green Zone appears to have become the "Pink Zone". The center-piece of the brothel was the same Yukiko Muragishi, a dancer from the Shiga Prefecture in Japan (33). She visited Iraq ten years ago as a dancer, felt at home, and willingly became a "human shield" for Saddam Hussein. Ms. Muragishi is quoted as saying, "it is true that I was running a "massage parlor" in the Green Zone from April 2004 to September of the same year. I realize I am being criticized for promoting indecency, however I can honestly swear that I never offered any so-called sexual service, because if I had I would`ve be kicked out of the country for providing services unfit for military morals." When asked why she had started this business, Ms. Muragishi replied, “at the end of the war I had plenty of opportunities to speak with American soldiers who had been struggling with the trauma of killing people. When they spoke, they sounded excited at the opportunity I offered to relieve their anxiety. I think they were trying to believe they could justify their experiences. Despite their murderous offenses, I believed that American soldiers were also victims of war. To comfort them I offered them massages. A Chinese restaurant owner offered me his second floor and four of his female friends who knew how to massage. Our price was $30 for 60 minutes, so I didn`t become rich. As the situation in Iraq became steadily worse, I decided to return to Japan in November 2004, and now I'm working everyday part-time at a factory near my house." How could this kind of misunderstanding have been able to occur? Yasuyuki Aizawa, the representative of NPO "Peace On" understood the Iraqi situation. He explained how Ms. Muragishi was "a person who came to Iraq to protest against America, but ended up doing business with Americans as customers. Without a doubt it was this aspect that upset the Iraqi`s feelings". 英訳： C.Shanon 平成17年3月13日(日) |