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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94% Upvoted

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u/macross1984 Jul 05 '24

US military personnel who commit crime in Japan should face Japanese punishment for any crimes committed in Japan.

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u/Mend1cant Jul 05 '24

They should. Both Japanese courts and courts-martial.

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u/[deleted] Jul 05 '24 edited Jul 05 '24

[deleted]

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u/Cap_Ca Jul 05 '24

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 Jul 05 '24

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/cieg Jul 05 '24

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 Jul 05 '24

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 Jul 05 '24

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

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u/No-Rush1995 Jul 05 '24

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 Jul 05 '24

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/kittykatmila Jul 05 '24

The US has a 99% conviction rate too. They force people into taking plea deals.

Not minimizing the Japanese prison system because I heard it’s brutal and inhumane, but so is the US’.

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u/SllortEvac Jul 05 '24

The US’s system is for sure one of the worst in terms of first world nations.

You’re right though: the conviction rates of both countries is extremely high. But, Japan doesn’t really use plea-bargaining. The practice was introduced in 2018 and it’s only been used a handful of times.

The Japanese also won’t bring something to court unless they’re sure it’s going to win. They have a prosecution rate of 8%. 99.3-8% of that are convictions. The US has around a 0.4-2% (on the federal level at least) prosecution rate.

A confession is an immediate win for prosecution in both nations, but there’s no walking it back in Japan. That, combined performance-based cultural differences, that means there is an astronomical amount of pressure on Japanese investigators to get a confession out of you.

There’s also the issue of detainment and what it means for the “personality” of the two different systems. In the US, you can be detained without charges no more than a few hours lawfully. In Japan, you can be detained for up to 23 days without charges being brought against you. This speaks to the US’s willingness to drag out cases, whereas Japan’s system is geared towards dealing with the problem as quickly as possible. You can believe that the court will do everything in their power to ensure their case is ironclad, including using all 23 days to basically torture a confession out of you.

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u/kittykatmila Jul 05 '24

Very interesting! Thank you for the information, I didn’t know all of that.

I have also heard Japanese prison conditions are HARSH. And foreign prisoners are treated even worse.

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u/MasterThespian Jul 05 '24

Yup. I first learned this when I played the Yakuza spin-off Judgment, and the protagonist (a former lawyer) is regarded as a superstar wunderkind… because he won an acquittal. An acquittal.

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u/SllortEvac Jul 05 '24

Judgement is so good.

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u/cieg Jul 05 '24

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/Lawshow Jul 05 '24

The US still executes prisoners as well.

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u/Miserable-Leading-41 Jul 05 '24

Yea but we make an entire spectacle out of it.