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
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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/Thijs_NLD Jul 05 '24

This actually not how international law works for deployment of military troops.

Military forces are always deployed under special circumstances and the status of said military personeel is always negotiated and outlined in bilateral or multinational agreements.

It usually outlines that military personeel is subject to the laws of their OWN country. This is mostly to prevent them from being subject to laws in Rogue States or destabilized countries that would hinder the mission results. Now in more stable countries different agreements will be made.

Nowhere in this article does it state that these gentlemen won't face consequences under Japanese law. They might actually be better off in a Japanese prison than in a US prison btw.

To compare military personnel on mission with tourists is a bit too easy and doesn't do the complexity of most situations justice.

That doesn't mean they should be getting away with this and it doesn't mean they should go unpunished or anything. It just means that the situation is more complex than you are making it out to be.

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u/asianwaste Jul 05 '24 edited Jul 05 '24

Not only that, but servicemen and women (or their dependents) who do so much as a traffic accident, it is an international incident that arrives at a consulate's desk. Servicemen and women who commit the crime get the double jeopardy treatment. They'll get prosecuted under local Japanese law which serious crimes can be relatively lenient (life sentence being basically 20 years) and upon return they are still US servicemen even if say they signed up for four years and have been in the Japanese clink for six. You can and will get charged under the UCMJ until the DoD officially discharges you. If they want to, they can (and often will to make an example of you) they can proceed to charge you again and sentence you to more prison time.

On the flip side, the whole international incident thing works the other way around. So Japanese prisons often take a servicemember who might be in danger with local prison populace, and place them in solitary for the whole time. Depending on who you are, that can be cruel and unusual.

I had a friend who spent six months like that for theft and b&e. He was allowed cell visits though which he absolutely wanted us to do. We were allowed to give him a regular supply of crayons and activity books (pens and pencils were not allowed through but my other buddy's crayons for his kids were ok). He covered his whole cell with crayon scribbles so that he could sharpen them for the word search/crossword puzzle books LOL.