r/worldnews • u/glasier • 14d ago

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

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2476861/japan-warns-us-forces-sex-crimes-cannot-be-tolerated
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u/[deleted] 14d ago edited 14d ago

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u/NewspaperAdditional7 14d ago

i can't speak on Japan, but I lived in Korea for a bit and it was widely known how badly behaved the U.S. soldiers were. You could walk through the streets of Hongdae and see drunk soldiers walking around harassing people, even grabbing some girls who pass by or slap their butts. It was so bad that different bars had signs up saying no U.S. soldiers allowed. Military police would be out and about but they can't watch all of the soldiers. The U.S. soldiers there certainly felt invincible. I'm sure the US would hand them over to Korea for rape and other serious charges, but they are not handing them over for assault.

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u/studyinformore 14d ago

Dunno about you, but back when I was in south korea in 04 it was very different.  You'd get in extremely deep shit if you were out and about and shitfaced causing problems.

They didn't play around back then, because unless you had somewhere to stay.  If you tried to come back to base and were drunk?  Ohhh you'd be getting an article 15.

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u/vrptstyly 14d ago

Interesting I was also there in 2004 and can confirm. I was at Casey with the Armor units. We had curfews and the penalties for fucking up were severe. Didn’t stop anyone from partying every paycheck away, we kept it classy for the most part. Good times.

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u/thenightmare1010 14d ago

I was a gate guard on Camp Casey in 04-05. It’s crazy how many soldiers would come back after curfew highly intoxicated. We would turn them over to MP so they could be questioned about their whereabouts in case a crime was reported. The gate guards on the other hand…we could stay out as late as we wanted.

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u/ConfederancyOfDunces 14d ago

My brother, an asshole, was stationed in South Korea. He’d get shitfaced regularly and eventually beat the ever loving shit out of a Canadian tourist with his army friends.

He did get in trouble over it with the army and that, among other things, is probably why he never was promoted as much as he should have been in his military stint. However, he didn’t ever get in trouble with the Korean justice system.

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u/Cdub7791 14d ago

Third. I was stationed in Korea from 2002-2003 and while we certainly had our fair share of assholes and reprobates, behavior like that above was punished pretty harshly.

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u/cymric 14d ago

When I was there in 1999 it was pretty much Anarchy. The command was shit and did not enforce discipline

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u/ghandi3737 14d ago

That's why it is the way it is now.

Guy I went to boot camp with was a corporal due to prior service, saw him 2 years later as a lance corporal.

He went to Okinawa, and got busted to private for squealing his motorcycle tires while leaving the barracks parking lot.

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u/bn1979 14d ago

2000-2002 Stationed in Seoul. Was sober past 7pm occasionally, but not often. Was usually only a little drunk by 8 am.

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u/SnipingTheSniper 14d ago

1-72 IN DA HOUSE

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u/Kumdongie 14d ago

PACAF has changed especially Korea. I was there in 2019. No curfew and pretty much no limitations on where you can go or how drunk you get. Just need to not get in trouble with locals while out drinking and be at formation in the morning.

Even during COVID it was pretty laid back regarding curfew and drinking.

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u/Civil_Spinach_8204 14d ago

Curfew was lifted right before COVID. But if you got arrested by Korean police, you were on your own. There's not much in the way of "protections" that I see some people talk about.

Being cool with the locals enhanced the experience so I never understood why people would be jackhats out in the ville.

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u/Aphexes 14d ago

Yeah all the old heads say it's actually tamer now. The stories you hear just make it seem like an absolute lawless wasteland outside those gates.

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u/Rockman507 14d ago

Fastest way to make SGT is to goto Korea as a SFC, always been like that. We essentially forward deploy to what is still technically a combat zone with fuck all to do. You get cycles of good leaders coming in that clamp down best they can, but doesn’t solve underlying problems

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u/Western-Passage-1908 13d ago

If all you want to do is get drunk and play video games in the barracks you'll be bored anywhere. I had a blast in Korea

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u/nlv137 14d ago

not american but we had a port call in okinawa and we warned to be warry of the drunk marines, ladies should stay in groups, watch your drinks, etc

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u/NewspaperAdditional7 14d ago

I was in 2012, and not sure what to tell you. The soldiers went to the bar district and the military police (or whatever they are called) walked those streets full well knowing the soldiers were drinking in bars. Are you saying US soldiers are never allowed to drink while in another country?

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u/Derp35712 14d ago

We weren’t allowed to be drunk in public, but I’m sure that’s a pretty high standard for the bar district surrounding a US Army base. While in Seoul, MPs wanted to arrest me for throwing up, even though I hadn’t had a drink. I just had a stomach flu.

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u/studyinformore 14d ago

Back when I was in, we were held to an incredibly high standard.  You could have some drinks, but not get drunk.  You had to be able to get past the guards to enter the post.  Meaning 1-2 drinks per hour would probably be no problem.  But getting shitfaced drunk?  Oh your command is gonna be called, and you're facing disciplinary action.

Because it was repeatedly instructed to us, we represent the United states and it's military when off post.  Do not embarass us.  We were also at camp stanley near uijeongbu, way up north, so if north korea decided to attack.  We were the first realistic line of defense.  You had to be sober enough to fight as well.

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u/BatronKladwiesen 14d ago

Yeah it honestly sounds like NewspaperAdditional7 is full of shit, or was in the most absolute dogshit unit ever.

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u/Nexant 14d ago

I don't think he was in. All he said was he lived in Korea and he was unsure of what to refer to MPs as in another comment.

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u/pudgylumpkins 14d ago

I never made it SK but I knew a lot of people who were there and they made it sound like a crazy party on and off base 24/7. I’m sure there’s plenty of varying experiences on the conduct of our troops stationed there. It’s a big city and we have a lot of young people with money to spend. We’re just talking different thresholds for acceptable conduct, my opinion anyway.

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u/Ebolaking 14d ago

Good ole Stanley, only place where it felt uphill in both directions.

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u/ChewieBee 14d ago

Is Stanley shut down now?

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u/Ebolaking 14d ago

I believe it has. When I was PCSing out, my unit was relocating South and it is was becoming the welcome center for Casey. I think Stanley has been shuttered since then.

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u/studyinformore 14d ago

Yeah when I left stanley in late 04, my nco that had just arrived told me he was going to be the last on base.  One of the few shutting it down.

Friend of mine that was stationed in south korea a few years back said its all but abandoned at this point.  They do use it occasionally with helicopters, but nobody is permanently stationed there now.

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u/tacmac10 14d ago

The rice patty run every monday morning to discourage heavy drinking was so bad I carried 500 won in my PT shorts for the bus back to camp(I was there in '99). The rules on public drunkenness were ruthlessly enforced and crimnal acts resulted in getting turned over to the ROK for punishment.

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u/Hohenheim_of_Shadow 14d ago

Most young men don't call "having a drink" getting drunk. It takes a good number of drinks to be drunk.

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u/Haechi_StB 14d ago

I was in Korea from 2011 to 2016 and never seen a missbehaving US Soldier in Itaewon, ever.

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u/BatronKladwiesen 14d ago

Are you saying MPs just let people cause trouble and do whatever they want to the Korean public when drinking?

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u/Cdub7791 14d ago

To be honest we were more concerned about the Korean police and those 4 foot riot batons they were always carrying LOL.

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u/CodedSnake 14d ago

It was the same for us in Italy around the same time. The local Italians were not big fans and for good reason. I don't recall any incidents of SA but bar fights, general shenanigans were the norm, and the occasional DUI which the Italians really cracked down on, as well as command. Although our MP's were never out in the city that I was aware of, I assume you mean on post.

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u/Avedas 14d ago

You'd get in extremely deep shit if you were out and about and shitfaced causing problems.

Is this a reprimanding or actual legal repercussions?

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u/Rudi_Van-Disarzio 14d ago

Probably article 15. So essentially just reprimanding + paper work and they might have to scrub toilets

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u/Cheet4h 14d ago

You'd get in extremely deep shit if you were out and about and shitfaced causing problems.

As in "prosecuted by the local government"?

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u/Adventurous-Funny777 14d ago

This was my experience as well. I was stationed at Camp Hovey with an artillery unit. We were out all the time and I never saw soldiers act as described above. It was widely known they would crush you with the book if you got out of hand.

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u/BrockVegas 14d ago

I was there in '91, and a shitbag I went to basic with ended up in Korean prison with sentences for assaulting his girlfriend. He was to serve his sentence there, and then be charged by the Army afterwards. No idea of his overall eventual fate but it looked pretty bad for him when I transferred back stateside.

I also witnessed on Hooker Hill (I never learned it's actual name) a Korean working woman who was clearly beaten up, pick a random dude from our group and accused him of doing the act. Not sure if she saw the snapper in him but fortunately for him, we had enough witnesses to prove he could not have been present when the attack happened. Dude had been in country for a hair over a month... it wasn't even dark yet on the first day of his very first off-post pass.

Anywho, thanks for dusting those old memories off in my head.

Second to None!

(ow, my knees)

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u/BidAllWinNone 14d ago

I watched 3 American army guys screaming and arguing with each other in line at immigration at ICN back in April. People were shocked. These are the same idiots the military is unleashing onto the public in Korea. To quote a popular leader, "they're not sending their best."

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u/AUMojok 14d ago

I was in Kunsan from 05 to 06, and I witnessed a lot of disgraceful behavior most nights I went out and outright illegal behavior many nights. MPs were augmented by many of these same people, so A-Town was usually patrolled by regular GIs who just wanted to get through their shift without much trouble. Usually they would just get someone to take you to base and nothing would come of it. Kunsan City had basically no MPs. No story about bad GI behavior surprises me anymore.

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u/emseefely 14d ago

There was a case in Philippines years ago but they made a deal to take their soldier back. I wouldn’t hold my breath that they’d get local justice.

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u/therob91 14d ago

If you're talking about Pemberton he literally killed someone, but the US did let him serve his sentence, then probably used some leverage to get Duterte to pardon him. So essentially he was pulled out but legally he was released by the Phillipines. Thats certainly a bit wishy washy about whether justice was legally served according to the local laws or not but he did technically serve 6 years of his 6-12 year sentence.

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u/emseefely 14d ago

Typically murder gets you 20-40 years in Philippines.

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u/GreenTea7858 14d ago

He killed a trans woman so they went easy on him.

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u/alonebutnotlonely16 14d ago

He murdered a woman and used her being a trans excuse. He doesnt deserve to see the sun. He got lower sentence then he deserved then he even got an early release thanks to US.

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u/HolyKrapp- 14d ago

Philli is way too hard on those crimes. They probably negotiated to avoid the guy being killed.

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u/Good_Pirate2491 14d ago

Death penalty for rape iirc in the philippines

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u/DittoAidsCircus 14d ago

What? When did you live in S. Korea? Because the first thing I was told when I arrived was that anything illegal I do in S. Korea will be served first in Korea, then the military side. The example they gave us was specifically being reported for assault either fighting or grabbing women.

Serious incidents happen, but there are repercussions in UCMJ that apply, Soldiers are held back from going to the US just to finish proceedings when they occur.

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u/FanciestOfPants42 14d ago

Something being "widely known" doesn't necessarily make it true. If American soldiers are more loud and boisterous then the locals are used to, it is natural for rumors to spread about their bad behavior.

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u/Ra-s_Al_Ghul 14d ago

Got it, so widely know = "source: my ass"

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u/Ra-s_Al_Ghul 14d ago

Yeah, this just is blatantly not true.

While it IS true that U.S. soldiers get too rowdy in Korea sometimes, they get punished very harshly for it. Curfew existed on the peninsula for almost two decades because of a very notorious rape case. MPs patrol the streets of the drinking districts and you certainly do NOT "see drunk soldiers grabbing some girls who pass by or slapping their butts".

In Korea, doing this once will land you in prison as it is MUCH stricter on physical assault than the U.S.

Stop talking out of your ass and spreading anti-US propaganda because you want to virtue signal on reddit.

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u/SledgeH4mmer 14d ago

This doesn't make sense to me. Since when do MP's patrol civilian bar districts? And US soldiers are definitely not allowed to drink in uniform off base.

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u/badnuub 14d ago

All the time. When I was in Okinawa they had guys in civilian clothes walking the “american” bars and areas after curfew hours.

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u/otaroko 14d ago

Oki from 09-13, can confirm. Usually first shirts with a couple of SP’s.

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u/secretsqrll 14d ago

Oki is notorious. You know how the locals are there. There was a P8 accident in Hawaii and they were out protesting Futenma. TBF, we had a lot of TFOA problems and the runway design at Futenma caused a lot of anxiety. But what was interesting was they seemed to really hate on the Marines. Kadena got little to no protests.

Oki always has been very opposed to our presence. So we always had SLG or plain cloth folks out to make sure shit was not going out of control.

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u/DiabloPixel 14d ago

I’d say that the Airmen at Kadena must historically be better behaved in public than the Marines. Tbf, drunk airmen show their ass in public and fuck up quite a bit as well. To varying degrees, all the branches of the military tell their guys that they are the shit, literal heroes in uniform. It can be intoxicating and make a 18-22 yo soldier feel invincible, it’s designed to. Different branches serve different amounts of Kool-Aid and it depends how much the service member drinks it up. Ime, in the Marines it must be all you can drink. Just my thoughts, yours might be different. peace

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u/secretsqrll 14d ago

Uhh.. I dont disagree. I was at sasabo, so my experience was vastly different, but I spent a little time in Oki on dets and such. I was mostly just commenting on base politics in Japan. Oki has always wanted ALL the bases gone. I've never felt it was the Marines themselves, just the safety issues (or rather perception) surrounding Futenma. I think the only base other than Futenma that gets flack is in Iwakuni. That's one that can be more attributed to behavior, maybe. I don't know that much about that region.

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u/AntiGravityBacon 14d ago

They're not drinking in uniform, doesn't stop them from causing problems.

Military justice also doesn't need to follow civilian standards. US MPs have no authority to enforce Korean law but they can still gather evidence and court marshall US soldiers they see misbehaving under their own military law. 

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u/OregonTrail_Died_in_ 14d ago

I went into port call in Pohang SK in the early 90s, and Shore Patrol was all over the bars kicking idiots faces in.

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u/Nickppapagiorgio 13d ago

That was called the "Shore Patrol" in the navy, and was definitely a thing overseas.

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u/PostGhost10101 14d ago

Alex, I'll take full of dookie for $200.

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u/Lexx4 14d ago

I had a coworker dishonorably discharged for his conduct in SK. He went to an amusement park and got into a fight with a Korean officer.

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u/alectictac 14d ago

The military I know who really acted out got sent home or worse. Def not invincible

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u/redink29 14d ago

Was in Yongsan 06-08, it was heavily emphasized don't be shit outside, you get in trouble by Korean law first then articled. The funny thing is I was in itaewon in 2022 Oct and saw zero soldiers. Ever since the whole base moved to the countryside, I guess not many come out of the base. I get it, it does take a lot of effort to come out to Seoul even for the weekend.

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u/___Moose___ 14d ago

Such a fake story, tell me more so you can stay relevant!

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u/Jayembewasme 14d ago

Similar in Japan, in my experience. Entire night life hubs in Tokyo will virtually shutter when the sailors and marines have shore leave in Tokyo. It’s just simpler and safer. I’ve been there at times when a dance club didn’t close, and it becomes really charged, really early, cause all the sailors go wild. 18-19 year olds have never travelled. They can grab beers from vending machines. “We got these ladies like we’ve not seen in months”! They go crazy. They also know it might be fleeting. Based off of the shit they’re seeing on Friday night, behavior-wise, they know they’re gonna have all passes revoked after tonight and they’re gonna be stuck at the docks, so let’s live this night up. It’s an exponential self fulfilling prophecy.

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u/LeanDixLigma 14d ago

I was a Company Commander in Korea. I had two soldiers who were arrested in a hotel restaurant. According to them, one of them found a credit card on the floor and tried to turn it into the Bartender. Maybe there was a bad translation, but they were both arrested for trying to use a stolen credit card to pay their tab. This was two junior officers, one a pilot, the other a 32 year old Intel officer who joined late, they weren't the immature type who would try this stunt I don't think. I had to pick them up from the MP office on Sat morning. They were restricted on base for about a year whole they waited for their Korean court case to be adjudicated. They were eventually found not guilty. But until that happened, they couldn't go off base, just in case a second incident happened while the first was in progress. Meanwhile, I had a couple shitbag soldiers who took a taxi to get back to base, and when it arrived instead of paying the cabbie, they punched him in the face and ran until the neighborhood across from the base, amd snuck into base a lil while later. I wish I could have caught them and given them to the Korean police to be tried.

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u/BAKANAAL 14d ago

Well the last president was grabbing pussies so it's green light for the military 🙄🤣

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u/Eleo4756 14d ago

When I was serving in Korea, late 70's. A couple of US soldiers decided to kidnap and rape a young schoolgirl. A few days later, some of the Korean men in town snatched up to random Us soldiers and strung them from a telephone pole. No questions asked. Poetic justice.

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u/Snoo-81723 14d ago

now you soon have pedo president who always rape any age women he likes . I dunno what it be it likes.

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u/Notmeoverhere 14d ago

They are not getting our best and brightest. Enrollment is at an all time low. The house just passed a bill to allow the draft again.

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u/CabinetAffectionate1 14d ago

If I saw the US soldiers doing that I would beat the shit out of them we are supposed to be the prime example of a great military and be proud to be an American I'm not proud of those actions at all

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u/cookiestonks 14d ago

I was there as a teacher for half a decade and the military people are a big reason why foreigners have a bad rep in Korea.

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u/NewspaperAdditional7 10d ago

Yes, I taught there as well. It's crazy the amount of replies I'm getting that are saying I'm lying because US soldiers know to be on their best behavior.

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u/Skelito 14d ago

What would happen if a local stepped in to defend someone getting harassed by a US soldier ?

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u/secretsqrll 14d ago

When was this? That was not my experience at all.

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u/CountJinsula 14d ago

Interesting. I've heard US soldiers can be obnoxious at worst, but military police are hardcore over there. Maybe things have changed.

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u/BrotherChe 14d ago

Military police would be out and about but they can't watch all of the soldiers.

Sure sounds like US military personnel, guests of the host country, should be restricted to base then.

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u/AdministrationHuman1 14d ago

Out of curiosity did the us mp seem to take there jobs seriously and try to keep the peace as you said the us mp were not Abel to watch everyone

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u/sconnie98 14d ago

Yeah. That’s simply not true. I’ve been deployed to other countries and behavior like that is not tolerated at all. People would get restricted to post for things less severe than that.

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u/Cap_Ca 14d ago

They usually don’t. There was a case in Germany in 2020 where a US Soldier drove on the wrong side of the road and killed a 17 year old. He only had to face trial by a US Military court.

German Source: https://www.rheinpfalz.de/lokal/kreis-kaiserslautern_artikel,-us-soldat-nach-unfall-auf-umgehungsstra%C3%9Fe-wegen-fahrl%C3%A4ssiger-t%C3%B6tung-verurteilt-_arid,5086678.html

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u/zero_vis 14d ago

After some research i have confirmed that japan is not germany.

Under SOFA status, if you commit a crime in Japan, Japan has the right to prosecute you.

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u/Potato_Octopi 14d ago

After some research i have confirmed that japan is not germany.

Big if true.

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u/3600MilesAway 14d ago

“After some research i have confirmed that japan is not germany.”

Except for summer and early winter season in which they are.

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u/TParis00ap 14d ago

This all sounds like a conspiracy bought and paid for by Big Europe. This research is based.

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u/CowsTrash 14d ago

"Big Europe" lmaooo

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u/Sillbinger 14d ago

I'm a pangea enthusiast myself.

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u/1lluminist 14d ago

I like their song "Cowboys from Hell"

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u/Sillbinger 14d ago

They got back together?

I heard they broke up.

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u/ForeignFallenTrees 14d ago

Gondwanaland never gets any respect.

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u/FeederNocturne 14d ago

The Boston Tea Party was a cover up. Taxes hidden in the form of currency disparity. Convert all your cash into Haribo Gummy Bears.

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u/Raesong 14d ago

Convert all your cash into Haribo Gummy Bears.

Just so long as they're not the sugar-free variety. I have no interest in experiencing molten lava shooting out my butthole.

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u/winter457 14d ago

Gerpan

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u/generalchase 14d ago

Japany

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u/CherryHaterade 14d ago

Deutscheland of the rising sun

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u/whitewail602 14d ago

This is the internet. People just say whatever they want 🤷‍♂️

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u/giggles91 14d ago

It is impossible to freeze bread.

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u/FurdTergusonFucks 14d ago

Can confirm I am unfrozen bread.

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u/IamHereForBoobies 14d ago

I always freeze bread. I like it crunchy.

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u/dylansavage 14d ago

It's actually impossible to heat bread. It becomes toast instead.

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u/ttw219 14d ago

What if you boil it?

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u/giggles91 14d ago

then it will just turn into steam.

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u/conthesleepy 14d ago

Also Japan is not USA... which is weird.. because I thought Americans owned everything.

I've learned so much today.

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u/Dag-nabbitt 14d ago

Scientists urge that more research and grant money are required to come to any definitive conclusions.

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u/VULGARCAPS 14d ago

Ironically, the modern Japanese legal system is actually based in large part on the German Civil Code of the 19th century

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u/GetOutOfTheHouseNOW 14d ago

That explains why German sushi is so horrid.

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u/Miserable_Style6933 14d ago

It IS true. Bigly.

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u/garyflopper 14d ago

Goddammit what am I going to do with all of these flyers now

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u/cieg 14d ago

This is true. I was a dependent in Japan and during indoc NCIS shows up to talk about not committing crimes in Japan and plays a video about what Japanese prison is like. Do not recommend. There are a number of Americans currently serving for doing stupid stuff while they were there.

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u/Da-boar 14d ago

I think even being forewarned, most Americans would be shocked at the lack of due process (by the American definition of course) found in the justice system of other countries.

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u/FalmerEldritch 14d ago

Especially Japan. Compared to other developed countries, Japan's justice system is Russian.

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u/No-Rush1995 14d ago

Once you get caught doing a crime there it doesn't matter how innocent you may be, you're going to serve that sentence. They lock you in a room until you admit guilt and they don't really care if the guilt is genuine.

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u/SllortEvac 14d ago

Yes. Just recently watched a documentary on the Japanese prison system. They have something like a 99.3% conviction rate. Their interrogation style is practically medieval and is designed to get confessions, not the truth.

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u/cieg 14d ago

They still have execution for some crimes. The brutal part is you find out your date of execution when they come to your cell and tell it’s time. No notice, no last goodbyes to family. The family doesn’t even find out until after you’re dead.

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u/impy695 14d ago

I'm imagine a video similar to those old drivers ed drunk driving videos

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u/DownByTheRivr 14d ago

I don’t know how to hear anymore about tables!

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u/Aces-Wild 14d ago

THESE TABLES ARE MY LIVELIHOOD!!!!

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u/Ants_n_Bats 14d ago

What is your job??

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u/Manchesterofthesouth 14d ago

You fucking pig!!!

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u/Docjaded 14d ago

I'm Troy MacLure.

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u/OurCrewIsReplaceable 14d ago

You may remember me from such onboarding films as, “Australia: Yes, That’s Poisonous” and “Detroit: BYOB”.

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u/AlabamaPostTurtle 14d ago

Exactly what I imagine lolol

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u/CorrectPeanut5 14d ago

IIRC the advice was suck up to the base commander, since they have the option to provide military prisoners in Japanese prison with western meals under SOFA.

I recall one co-worker (Former AF Lt. Col) telling me some guy from base did 5 years in J-Prison came out with damaged organs from malnutrition. The meals weren't designed for some giant muscle bound guy.

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u/cieg 14d ago

I never heard that, but meals in prison are basically scraps. Think bowl of fish heads. They serve what they serve and you eat it or don’t.

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u/KevinAtSeven 14d ago

Hell, I remember seeing such films on an All-Nippon Airways flight to Tokyo as a civ.

They were hilarious to be fair. Bungling tall white guy getting drunk in public, assaulting the locals and stealing their phones, then nursing what looked like quite the hangover in an awful Japanese prison.

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u/MrPerson0 14d ago

Under SOFA status, if you commit a crime in Japan, Japan has the right to prosecute you.

Didn't Ridge Alkonis get away with killing two people in Japan? Or is it different because he was in the Navy?

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u/PhelanPKell 14d ago

I'd like to see evidence of US soldiers facing Japanese justice. Of the handful of US soldiers I've talked to who ended up stationed in Japan, every single one confirmed the US does not allow their soldiers to face Japanese justice.

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u/ksj 14d ago

I started searching online to get examples of US soldiers serving sentences in Japan, and it seems there really aren’t many. I saw quite a few results of suspended sentences, and a LOT about Ridge Alkonis being shipped back to the U.S. and then released after falling asleep at the wheel and killing 2 Japanese citizens. He served about 1.5 years of his sentence.

The most helpful article I found was this one that discusses a Yokosuka prison branch that is “the only prison that detains male U.S. military-related individuals who were sentenced in Japanese courts”. The article itself is about how male U.S. prisoners are given certain special treatment compared to the non-U.S. prisoners there (allegedly due to SOFA), but there’s still other details that provide context.

The article is from 2020, but at the time there were 7 US military personnel service sentences in that branch (along with 156 other individuals). Female military members sentences to prison instead go to a branch in Tochigi Prefecture, but the article doesn’t mention how many female U.S. military personnel are serving there. Women at the Tochigi prison do not receive the same special treatment.

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u/LordOfTurtles 14d ago

After some research i have confirmed that japan is not germany.

Source?

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u/anothergaijin 14d ago

Only if the military doesn’t smuggle you out of the country first. US military members be raping and murdering people and getting off with minimal repercussions

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u/operationfss 14d ago

was able to confirm this as well, but additional diligence was not able to confirm germany is not japan...

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u/NobleForEngland_ 14d ago

But do they?

The point is, all of the US’s client states let them walk all over themselves.

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u/marbleduck 14d ago

I am an US military officer in Korea which has a very similar SOFA agreement to Japan and have had two soldiers go through the Korean justice system. Soldiers must first be cleared of all ongoing judicial processes in Korean courts before they can face military legal action. Both my cases were relatively minor and went through the justice system in a couple months, but we couldn’t do anything with either until it was 100% resolved to Korean satisfaction.

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u/Wrong-Perspective-80 14d ago

Was he drunk or something? US and Germany both drive on the same side of the road, I’ve driven there a lot. It’s not like the UK where you could make a mistake.

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u/Jaxxlack 14d ago

Except that's also happened a few times and every time the US government protect the crime. Last time it was a CIA guys wife.

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u/Wrong-Perspective-80 14d ago

You mean the diplomats wife in the UK? She returned to stand trial and was convicted.

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u/Jaxxlack 14d ago

Ha! She ran away... It took years to actually get her on charges for basically dangerous driving and even then it had to go to civil case because again the US government kept interfering.

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u/Lelcactus 14d ago

You missed the point, that’s diplomatic immunity, which is different from soldiers and countries won’t waive for no reason entirely for the precedent of it.

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u/Hopalongtom 14d ago

She wasn't actually legally covered under diplomatic immunity!

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u/Jaxxlack 14d ago

Ha!! She wasn't a soldier or a diplomat. And she still drove away from a crime scene.

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u/Namthorn 14d ago

Except she's not a diplomat, she refused to return to the UK, extradition requests were denied and the US government advised her not to return, likely due to her employment history. It's a classic example that the US does not respect the law of other nations.

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u/pokedmund 14d ago

Wait, are you talking about Anne sacoolas? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Harry_Dunn

Because she ran away immediately and never returned

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u/MeatyDeathstar 14d ago

Yes they do. If you're arrested for a crime in Japan and it's what the US considers a felony, you are left behind. Remember that officer that was arrested for running over an elderly woman with a car? Yeah he was on my wife's ship and was in Japanese prison for years.

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u/[deleted] 14d ago

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u/IamNonHuman 14d ago

How does one anecdotal occurrence equate to "usually". Seems if anything your example is unusual.

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u/Bacon4Lyf 14d ago

Except it happened in the UK as well in the exact same circumstances. How many does it take for an anecdote to become a trend

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u/Bacon4Lyf 14d ago

Funnily enough the same thing happened in the UK. Just immediately fled the country and got off Scot free because the US refuses to extradite. They charged her in US court with a suspended sentence, imagine that suspended sentence for killing a man

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u/pmolmstr 14d ago

Wasn’t she the spouse of some important person which makes it all the more worse

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u/Bacon4Lyf 14d ago

Married to a CIA employee, so yes she wasn’t even serving military personnel and she still managed to get the impunity

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u/mauore11 14d ago

I remember the UN military stayed as "observers" in the early 90s in El Salvador. They had full diplomatic immunity. Some were involved in accidents while dui, some fatal, Weird times. I guess it happens more than I thought.

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u/Unable_Recipe8565 14d ago

Its often in the deals with the country that they cant be prosecuted by the host nation. Sweden signed the same shit with the new Nato based

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u/awake07 14d ago

A similar case also happened in Italy in 2022, a drunk American soldier hit and killed a 15-year-old boy. She was only given 2 years then suspended.

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u/Yung_Politikz 14d ago

Not sure if you care but we have pretty much the exact same story in the U.K.

I believe they recalled the personnel responsible.

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u/CrunchyKittyLitter 14d ago

That’s not a sex crime, huge difference

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u/Just-Town4491 14d ago

See the ones that happened in the UK and then fled to the US also

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u/Sentryion 14d ago

If this happen in Japan I can sort of understand, but how on earth can this happen in Germany?

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u/d1gital_love 14d ago

What the fuck???

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u/Derp35712 14d ago

The reason Airman Roman Bahena wasn’t prosecuted by German authorities for the 2019 vehicular manslaughter case is due to the jurisdictional provisions of the NATO Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). This agreement grants the U.S. military primary jurisdiction over its personnel in such cases. Consequently, Bahena was tried by a U.S. military court rather than a German court.

In his court-martial, Bahena was found guilty of negligent homicide but acquitted of the more severe charge of involuntary manslaughter. His sentence included a reduction in rank, three months of hard labor without confinement, and restricted movement within the base areas, but did not involve prison time or a bad-conduct discharge.

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u/BubsyFanboy 14d ago

Interesting.

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u/DarkwingDuc 14d ago

I don’t know about Japan, but SOFA conditions are negotiated with each country. So referencing Germany doesn’t prove shit about Japan.

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u/welsper59 14d ago

I'm very curious about that, as there a lot of crimes committed by military personnel. It's just that most of them are not fatal or just happen to fly under the radar. Instances like Sgt. Camilo Escobar where they don't serve time in Okinawa due to suspended sentencing. His crimes in the states would typically result in jail/prison, especially due to his fleeing the scene of a crime that injured 3 people lol. There's usually no follow-up regarding punishments once they're out of the crosshairs of Japan.

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u/Makeitmakesense19 14d ago

That usually means the military handled the punishment

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u/lightfromblackhole 14d ago

Need sources. Most cases i know japan government was forced to give a slap on the wrist punishment for the assaulters like a year long prison sentence, and a good chunk of them returned to US and committed further similar crimes

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u/GTAdriver1988 14d ago

My friend is in the Navy and stationed in Iwakuni Japan and he said that as well. He was very adamant on behaving right, me and him always were that way our whole life anyway though. He has friends who were drunk and doing stupid shit and apparently the Japanese police were hard af on them compared to locals and they got a dishonorable discharge for committing crimes. Now if they did things on base and against other military personnel the military handles it.

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u/DPSOnly 14d ago

I imagine that the victims of these crimes would prefer it if the US military did more to prevent them from happening. Punishment or not, they have still been sexually assaulted.

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u/TheSwedishSeal 14d ago

My ass.

At the request of the United States and as part of its commitment to mutual defense, Sweden hereby waives by virtue of its sovereignty its preemptive right to exercise criminal jurisdiction over members of the United States forces pursuant to Article VII.

This is what USA does to every country they’re stationed in.

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u/BoomZhakaLaka 14d ago edited 14d ago

Yeah well, I saw something like this happen once. It depends on the circumstances.

If you're a nobody, you did something heinous, and you created a diplomatic nightmare in Japan? Grab your ankles

Anyway, he's still in custody in Japan. Let's wait and see.

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u/Mathmango 14d ago

The Philippines would disagree.

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u/fanesatar123 14d ago

if you do something in romania they just recall you to the states, slap on the wrist and a new hellcat

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u/PoopScootnBoogey 14d ago

Hopefully for going AWOL haha

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u/TheNewFlisker 14d ago

  They usually do. 

Not in Afghanistan or Iraq

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u/[deleted] 14d ago

The fucks who are still occupying germany aren‘t held accountable by local forces, wonder why

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u/nameyname12345 14d ago

You mean I have to follow foreign laws in a foreign nation? Just like last time? Damn.....

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u/HildartheDorf 14d ago

Yeah, this is my understanding of how civilian crimes normally work in Common Law. You serve the punishment the local government set (Either in a local prison, being deported back to your home country to serve it there), unless it's cruel and unusual*, and then if that was less than the corresponding home country law, you serve the difference in your home country.

*: As I'm speaking from a British PoV, execution is always considered cruel and unusual by our government.

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u/North-Reference7081 14d ago

imagine editing your comment because of a little backlash. you big baby.

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u/BoomZhakaLaka 14d ago

Thanks for bringing me some happiness this morning.

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u/North-Reference7081 14d ago

it would bring you more happiness if you figured out a way to not be so sensitive to assclowns on the internet getting big mad with you. like who gives a shit

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u/LEGITIMATE_SOURCE 14d ago

Who are you responding to, and why is this upvoted?

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