EDITORIAL: Enough is enough. Revise Status of Forces Agreement
The Asahi Shinbun: 6 November 2012
Another suspected crime by a U.S. serviceman in Okinawa Prefecture has indisputably demonstrated the need to revise the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between Japan and the United States, which gives special treatment to U.S. troops and civilian employees of the U.S. military in Japan.
The incident in question took place on Nov. 2 in Yomitan, a village on the main Okinawa Island of the southernmost prefecture. Before dawn, a drunken U.S. airman broke into a private home on the third floor of a building and punched and injured a male junior high school student, according to police.
Less than a month ago, two U.S. Navy sailors were accused of raping and injuring a local woman, also in the central part of the island.
The situation has become outrageous. Unsurprisingly, Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima has warned about the serious damage these back-to-back incidents involving U.S. servicemen could cause to the Japan-U.S. security alliance.
SOFA stipulates that Japan has the preferential right to try members and civilian employees of the U.S. armed forces if they commit crimes outside U.S. bases during their off-duty hours.
However, if such suspected criminals enter areas under the control of the U.S. forces, according to SOFA, the custody of the suspects remains with the United States until they are formally indicted by Japanese prosecutors. In other words, Japanese authorities cannot arrest them as part of their investigation toward indictment.
In the latest case, the U.S. airman was injured as he tried to make his escape through the third-floor window, and he was taken to a U.S. military hospital. If he had not been injured, he would have been arrested at the scene by Japanese police officers.
On Nov. 5, Okinawa prefectural police questioned the suspect after obtaining the consent of U.S. forces. The Japanese government should ask the U.S. military to hand him over to Japanese authorities.
But Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura has said there is “no need to request a pre-indictment handover” of the suspect.
After the rape of a schoolgirl by U.S. servicemen 17 years ago, which sparked a wave of protests in Okinawa, both Tokyo and Washington agreed to improve the implementation of SOFA to enable such a handover of suspects before indictment. But this provision only applies in principle to vicious crimes and is carried out based on U.S. considerations.
Indeed, the acts attributed to the airman do not legally represent a vicious crime. But imagine the horror the teenager must have felt when he woke up being attacked by a sturdy man who had broken into the room.
Now imagine the same thing happening in your home.
SOFA gives U.S. military personnel a variety of privileges. For instance, if U.S. forces say a crime was committed during on-duty hours, Japan cannot try the suspect under Japanese law even if the crime was committed outside U.S. bases.
Do the Americans still have the occupier mentality based on the perception that Okinawa was a prize of the war their country won through bloody battles? Is such a mentality, combined with the sense of privilege based on SOFA, a major factor behind the series of crimes that have been committed by U.S. personnel?
Yomitan has a history of inviting U.S. commanding officers to community festivals and welcoming visits by American servicemen to the events. The village declined to do so this year because of the latest incident. Many Japanese cherish their country’s relationship with the United States. But it is not a relationship of subordination.
It is odd that Japanese politicians who talk about Japan’s sovereignty regarding security and diplomatic issues eschew discussing problems of SOFA, which restricts Japan’s jurisdiction over crimes committed in its territory.
It should be remembered that the election platform of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan pledges to propose a revision to the agreement.
The Asahi Shinbun: 6 November 2012
Another suspected crime by a U.S. serviceman in Okinawa Prefecture has indisputably demonstrated the need to revise the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between Japan and the United States, which gives special treatment to U.S. troops and civilian employees of the U.S. military in Japan.
The incident in question took place on Nov. 2 in Yomitan, a village on the main Okinawa Island of the southernmost prefecture. Before dawn, a drunken U.S. airman broke into a private home on the third floor of a building and punched and injured a male junior high school student, according to police.
Less than a month ago, two U.S. Navy sailors were accused of raping and injuring a local woman, also in the central part of the island.
The situation has become outrageous. Unsurprisingly, Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima has warned about the serious damage these back-to-back incidents involving U.S. servicemen could cause to the Japan-U.S. security alliance.
SOFA stipulates that Japan has the preferential right to try members and civilian employees of the U.S. armed forces if they commit crimes outside U.S. bases during their off-duty hours.
However, if such suspected criminals enter areas under the control of the U.S. forces, according to SOFA, the custody of the suspects remains with the United States until they are formally indicted by Japanese prosecutors. In other words, Japanese authorities cannot arrest them as part of their investigation toward indictment.
In the latest case, the U.S. airman was injured as he tried to make his escape through the third-floor window, and he was taken to a U.S. military hospital. If he had not been injured, he would have been arrested at the scene by Japanese police officers.
On Nov. 5, Okinawa prefectural police questioned the suspect after obtaining the consent of U.S. forces. The Japanese government should ask the U.S. military to hand him over to Japanese authorities.
But Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura has said there is “no need to request a pre-indictment handover” of the suspect.
After the rape of a schoolgirl by U.S. servicemen 17 years ago, which sparked a wave of protests in Okinawa, both Tokyo and Washington agreed to improve the implementation of SOFA to enable such a handover of suspects before indictment. But this provision only applies in principle to vicious crimes and is carried out based on U.S. considerations.
Indeed, the acts attributed to the airman do not legally represent a vicious crime. But imagine the horror the teenager must have felt when he woke up being attacked by a sturdy man who had broken into the room.
Now imagine the same thing happening in your home.
SOFA gives U.S. military personnel a variety of privileges. For instance, if U.S. forces say a crime was committed during on-duty hours, Japan cannot try the suspect under Japanese law even if the crime was committed outside U.S. bases.
Do the Americans still have the occupier mentality based on the perception that Okinawa was a prize of the war their country won through bloody battles? Is such a mentality, combined with the sense of privilege based on SOFA, a major factor behind the series of crimes that have been committed by U.S. personnel?
Yomitan has a history of inviting U.S. commanding officers to community festivals and welcoming visits by American servicemen to the events. The village declined to do so this year because of the latest incident. Many Japanese cherish their country’s relationship with the United States. But it is not a relationship of subordination.
It is odd that Japanese politicians who talk about Japan’s sovereignty regarding security and diplomatic issues eschew discussing problems of SOFA, which restricts Japan’s jurisdiction over crimes committed in its territory.
It should be remembered that the election platform of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan pledges to propose a revision to the agreement.
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