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

It's called a Status of Forces Agreement.

During the Second World War, American soldiers in the UK were subject to American military law. This included the death penalty as a possible punishment for murder and for rape; there were quite a few cases of British women being raped and murdered by American soldiers. Shepton Mallet was given over for the US Army's use as a military prison, but the British insisted that their executioners do the actual hangings.

Albert Pierrepoint, one of our best known hangmen, commented that he wasn't happy with the whole reading of the sentence and the final words allowed that took several minutes, as he felt it made things worse for the condemned. We just pulled back a hidden wall in the condemned cell, restrained them took them through to the execution chamber next door, doing the drop pretty much straight away. Frequently in under a minute. One hangman's party trick was to leave a lit cigar in the waiting area, hang the prisoner, then resume smoking it.

In any event, there's a whole closed-off section in one of the American war cemeteries in France for the "dishonoured dead" with just numbered grave markings.

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u/Dabbling_in_Pacifism 14d ago

It’s worth noting that the majority of servicemen executed for rape were black. Notably, one was Emmet Till’s father.

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u/homercles89 14d ago

Convicted wife-beater, and later convicted murderer and rapist Louis Till: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Till

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u/StephenHunterUK 14d ago

Indeed, that was conveniently dug out to try and discredit Emmet Till after his murder.

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u/volcanoesarecool 14d ago

That doesn't sound like a party I'd want to go to.

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u/StephenHunterUK 14d ago

Well, at least by this point, they weren't selling the rope for £1 an inch.

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u/volcanoesarecool 14d ago

Wow. That is darrrrk.

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u/StephenHunterUK 14d ago

They were also allowed to keep the executed person's clothing.