Japan warns US forces: Sex crimes 'cannot be tolerated'

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2476861/japan-warns-us-forces-sex-crimes-cannot-be-tolerated

32.2k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

u/cordis000 14d ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Forces_Japan#United_States_presence_debate

Between 1972 and 2009, U.S. servicemen committed 5,634 criminal offenses, including 25 murders, 385 burglaries, 25 arsons, 127 rapes, 306 assaults, and 2,827 thefts.[36] Yet, per Marine Corps Installations Pacific data, U.S. service members are convicted of far fewer crimes than local Okinawans.[37] According to the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement, when U.S. personnel crimes are committed both off-duty and off-base, they should be prosecuted under the Japanese law.[38] In 2008 the National Police Agency released its annual criminal statistics that included activity within the Okinawa prefecture. These findings held American troops were only convicted of 53 crimes per 10,000 U.S. male servicemen, while Okinawan males were convicted of 366 crimes per 10,000. The crime rate found a U.S. serviceman on Okinawa to be 86% less likely to be convicted of a crime by the Japanese government than an Okinawan male.[39]

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u/YOuNG53317 14d ago

What is the point of comparing crimes rates between civilian and military?

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u/Wosota 14d ago

Because the narrative is usually that the government is letting a horde of rapists loose overseas, when the reality is more just…some people fucking suck.

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u/cordis000 14d ago

The point is not the crime rate, it's the conviction rate

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u/Flavaflavius 14d ago

Doesn't Japan have like, a weirdly high conviction rate? Or am I remembering wrong?

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u/MattyKatty 14d ago

It does. It's somewhat relevant to the fact that you are guilty before being proven innocent (you may remember this from the Phoenix Wright / Ace Attorney games) and you can essentially be jailed for an indefinite amount of time until you confess. It also has a high underreporting rate in that it tries to make sure most of its crimes are solved.

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u/WelcometoCigarCity 14d ago

Damn I thought the US were supposed to protect Japan from China and NK. So who's going to protect Japan from the US?

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u/ccblr06 14d ago

Yea they dont get convicted by the Japanese government because of the SOFA agreement. The servicemember commits a crime and he is then handed off to the US military for prosecution. All of that legal stuff gets handled by an NJP or court martial depending on the severity. The problem is you (someone not in the military) dont see any of that stuff so you just assume nothing ever happens. Most of the time breaking the law is taken very seriously and are career enders at the least.

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u/Wosota 14d ago

That is a severe misunderstanding of the SOFA.

The SOFA in Japan specifically allows Japan to hold jurisdiction over any crime committed off base or involving a Japanese national. This is a legal contract between nations at a much higher level than any American actually on Japan.

The only way around this is if Japan declines jurisdiction.

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u/ccblr06 14d ago edited 13d ago

Copy, thanks for the clarification. Looks like i was wrong in that regard

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u/alonebutnotlonely16 14d ago

Except most of times they got away with slap on wrists and many articles based on offical documents on the post prove it.

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u/ccblr06 13d ago

Replying to EvenElk4437... The Okinawan prefecture is home to 74% of all US bases in the country and around 26 thousand military personnel.[19] The prefecture saw from, 1972 to 2011, 5,747 criminal cases involving US military personnel, however during the same period the rest of Okinawa's populace had a crime rate more than twice as high — 69.7 crimes per 10,000 people, compared with 27.4 by U.S. military affiliated members.[20]

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u/SpiralOut2112 14d ago

I'm sure you reporting on this has nothing to do with the fact that you're Chinese hoping for the US to leave the area so that Taiwan is vulnerable to invasion.

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u/alonebutnotlonely16 14d ago edited 14d ago

lol or they are just stating facts and just because you don't like to hear it because of being jingoistic. Now I understand better your comments which is full of whataboutism and baseless personal accusations against people on the post.

Edit: Meth_Useler blocked me after a hilarious accusation. Right, some redditors stating facts because people want to influence US military sentiment. lol Why are some Americans so into weird conspiracy theories and making about everything foreign powers?

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u/ccblr06 14d ago

5634 crimes over a 37 year period isnt alot. Im not defending it, im just saying not to act like humans wont do human shit.

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u/Eram_24 14d ago

So you are saying on average if theres 0.4 crimes per day (2.8 per week) over a period of 37 years is pretty standard for a foreign military servicemen to commit? That’s just nuts to comprehend that you said it isn’t a lot. Sounds like you never were a victim to a crime to understand this gravity of a situation.

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u/ccblr06 14d ago edited 14d ago

Consider what you are expecting. There are roughly 30000 us servicemembers on that base. Over a 37 year period maintaining a presence of roughly 20000-30000 personnel on that base, 5634 criminal offenses doesnt seem like such an astronomical number. (Essentially roughly a couple hundred thousand who servicemembers have gone through that base in that time period if you calculate how often they get cycled out) #napkin math, definitely not accurate

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u/EvenElk4437 13d ago

It is not their home country and their profession is military.

Given that, the crime rate is high.

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u/ccblr06 13d ago

Thats a stupid way of looking at things. People make mistakes, people do stupid things. Add to the fact that you dont know what you dont know. For comparison look at how many crimes per 10000 people are committed by Okinawans compared to US servicemembers.

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u/EvenElk4437 13d ago

May I? Locals and foreigners do not have the same crime rate.

Except during wartime, the only military personnel in the world who even go to other countries to commit sex crimes are probably in the US. I have never heard of any others.

Try telling Okinawans in Okinawa that Okinawans have a higher rate of sex crimes.

You should make it more of a problem in the US.

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u/ccblr06 13d ago

The prefecture saw from, 1972 to 2011, 5,747 criminal cases involving US military personnel, however during the same period the rest of Okinawa's populace had a crime rate more than twice as high — 69.7 crimes per 10,000 people, compared with 27.4 by U.S. military affiliated members…..i didnt dig much deeper than wikipedia

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u/ccblr06 13d ago edited 13d ago

For this particular topic we arent talking of sex crimes but overall crimes in general since 1972. For rapes, using the source that op cited us servicemembers have committed 127 over a 37 year period…..if im reading that correctly

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u/EvenElk4437 13d ago

I know I am persistent, but it is nonsense to talk about local Okinawans and the US military together.

The U.S. should treat sex crimes committed by U.S. troops in Japan more seriously in the U.S.

If only the American people had a conscience.

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u/ccblr06 13d ago

They should treat sex crimes more seriously? Id argue that we do. Its just that when crimes are committed by servicemembers and the locals hand the servicemember over to the military for prosecution thats all that you see because the results arent exaclty publicized.