American Soldiers Being Prosecuted on Suspicion of Robbery Should Be Detained by Japan

The Okinawan prefectural police are asking that two members of the U.S. military – a U.S. Air Force employee and a U.S. Army private, be prosecuted on suspicion of forced entry and robbery committed May 12 in Chatan. In my opinion, they should be severely punished.

The problem is that both suspects are in U.S. military custody, and not being held by the Japanese police. When police detain U.S. soldiers or military personnel on suspicion of committing a crime outside of official business, Japan holds them in custody. However, if suspects are detained by the U.S. military, they do not need to be handed over until an indictment is filed. This is a privilege afforded to the U.S. military by the U.S.–Japan Status of Forces Agreement.

In the wake of the 1995 rape of a young girl, the Japan-U.S. Joint Committee agreed that the U.S. side would “give sympathetic consideration” with regard to handing a suspect over before indictment to improve the handling of serious crimes.

Nevertheless, those serious crimes were limited to murder and rape, and this crime doesn’t fall within those categories domestically. What’s more, the U.S. has discretion as to whether it provides sympathetic consideration.

The Japanese government’s acceptance of an agreement that is equivalent to abandoning its sovereignty and relinquishing its authority to raise any objections for many years can only be described as groveling negligence.

The reality is that giving U.S. military personnel special status has increased the number of crimes and accidents because military personnel is well aware that they are protected by the agreement.

In the past, there have been cases where U.S. soldiers under military supervision on base coordinated their stories with accomplices, or attempted to destroy evidence. The agreement has become a massive barrier to carrying out investigation.

The government must raise the idea of revising the agreement with the U.S., and urge them to make it mandatory to hand over custody for all types of crimes prior to indictment.

In this case, the two men whose face prosecution are suspected of breaking into a currency exchange store in Chatan on May 12 around 3:55 p.m. and stealing about 6.9 million yen (approximately $64,270), holding the workers at knifepoint.

The prefectural police confirmed from security camera footage that the two suspects fled to Kadena Air Base. The police called for cooperation from the U.S. military in investigating the incident, and then interrogated the two suspects in U.S. military custody.

The investigation went relatively smoothly given an abundance of evidence and a nearly complete confession, but it has been two weeks since the crime occurred. If the suspects were not in the U.S. military, they would have been arrested and prosecuted much sooner. Until we can conduct investigations without distinguishing whether the suspects are Japanese citizens or U.S. military personnel, we cannot call ourselves a sovereign nation in the truest sense.

The police have recorded 6,029 crimes committed by U.S. military personnel in Okinawa alone, between 1972 (the year Okinawa was returned to Japan) and the end of last year. Of those, 580 have been serious crimes such as murder, sexual assault and robbery.

The lives and property of our citizens continue to be threatened by crimes extending from the military bases. The government must not turn a blind eye to this reality.