US military loses legal privileges in Japan

US military loses legal privileges in Japan

Tokyo - The US government attempted to quell escalating protests against its military presence in Japan by effectively waiving legal privileges extended to servicemen suspected of rape and murder, writes Richard Lloyd Parry. The US ambassador to Tokyo, Walter Mondale, and Yohei Kono, the Japanese Foreign Minister, announced the adjustment to the Status of Forces Agreement (Sofa), a bilateral accord which governs the treatment of servicemen suspected of crimes on Japanese soil. Under the wording of Sofa, military personnel wanted for questioning can remain in American custody until formally charged. The arrangement provoked outrage last month, after the rape of a 12-year-old schoolgirl on the island of Okinawa, where three- quarters of US bases in Japan are concentrated.