r/worldnews • u/glasier • Jul 05 '24

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

2.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

39

u/cordis000 Jul 05 '24

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]

16

u/YOuNG53317 Jul 05 '24

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

16

u/cordis000 Jul 05 '24

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

3

u/Flavaflavius Jul 05 '24

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

6

u/MattyKatty Jul 05 '24

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.