| Trouble Over Seas [message #25184] |
Mon, 16 June 2003 11:07  |
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Havocman
Messages: 410
Registered: February 2003
Location: Fuck you
Karma: 0
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Commander |
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I First looked at it like. WHAT?!?!?!? But.. Well you Read it
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TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan demanded Monday that the U.S. military hand over a Marine suspected of raping a 19-year-old woman on Okinawa in a case that looks set to fuel resentment of the U.S. military presence there.
The allegation, which follows several high-profile criminal cases involving U.S. military personnel based on the island, comes at a time when Washington is considering an overhaul of its forces in Asia, about a quarter of which are based in Okinawa.
Police in Naha, the capital, said they had obtained an arrest warrant for Lance Corporal Jose W. Torres, who allegedly raped a Japanese woman after punching her in the face on May 25.
The 21-year-old Marine, whose hometown was withheld, is in U.S. military custody.
Japan's Kyodo news agency last week quoted police sources as saying that the serviceman had denied raping the woman.
Japan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Japanese officials had held talks with U.S. officials in Tokyo and demanded that the suspect be handed over before he was indicted.
The U.S. side said it would consider Japan's request and reply at an early date, according to the ministry statement.
Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said earlier she had told U.S. Ambassador to Japan Howard Baker that the incident was "truly regretable" and called for tighter discipline for the U.S. military as well as steps to prevent similar incidents.
HEINOUS CRIMES
Under the Status of Forces Agreement governing the conduct of the U.S. military in Japan, the United States need not hand over suspects until they are charged by Japanese prosecutors, except in the case of "heinous crimes" such as rape and murder.
Since the high-profile rape of a 12-year-old girl by three U.S. servicemen in 1995, Washington has agreed to consider requests in serious cases.
The delay in the handover of rape suspects in previous cases involving U.S. servicemen has angered many people in Okinawa and fueled calls to revise the agreement.
Residents of Okinawa have long resented what they see as their unfair burden in hosting 26,000 of the 48,000 U.S. military personnel in the country as part of the U.S.-Japan security alliance, a pillar of Tokyo's post-war foreign policy.
The recent incidents in Okinawa, however, have not ignited anywhere near the levels of anger seen in South Korea after two schoolgirls were killed by a U.S. army vehicle a year ago.
The United States has begun a dramatic realignment of its military forces globally, including some 100,000 troops in Asia and the Pacific, mostly in Japan and South Korea.
U.S. officials have not confirmed media reports that they plan to move most of the 20,000 Marines stationed in Okinawa to elsewhere in the Pacific, perhaps to Australia.
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FUCK YOU ALL. Im Leaveing.
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| Trouble Over Seas [message #25224] |
Mon, 16 June 2003 13:32  |
spotelmo
Messages: 273
Registered: February 2003
Location: nebraska
Karma: 0
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Recruit |
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we owe it to our servicemen to first investigate the incident. if we find reasonable cause to try them, then they should be turned over.
we shouldn't just start turning over our servicemen and women to foreign countries just because they are accused of a crime. if we did that, then people in saudi arabia, afghanistan, iraq and other countries would be falsely accusing our men of crimes just to "get them".
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| Trouble Over Seas [message #25323] |
Mon, 16 June 2003 17:38 |
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Havocman
Messages: 410
Registered: February 2003
Location: Fuck you
Karma: 0
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Commander |
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| spotelmo |
we owe it to our servicemen to first investigate the incident. if we find reasonable cause to try them, then they should be turned over.
we shouldn't just start turning over our servicemen and women to foreign countries just because they are accused of a crime. if we did that, then people in saudi arabia, afghanistan, iraq and other countries would be falsely accusing our men of crimes just to "get them".
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agreed.
FUCK YOU ALL. Im Leaveing.
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| Trouble Over Seas [message #25378] |
Tue, 17 June 2003 06:26 |
KIRBY098
Messages: 1546
Registered: February 2003
Karma: 0
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General (1 Star) |
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The S.O.F.A. Agreement is very important to the forward deployed military member. Sufficient information, and proof of wrongdoing must be supplied before the servicemember is turned over. I have been to Turkey where the is no S.O.F.A. agreement, and they tell you before you go on liberty, not to screw up. If you get arrested, there's nothing they can do for you, and you rot in a turkish prison, where you don't get fed unless family members bring you food, and clothes. That's a hard thing for U.S. families to do. And forget sending it through the mail...It gets "misplaced" by prison officials.
We actually had a guy get arrested, and we never heard from him again. The second time we went back, there were inquiries to his status, and noone had heard of him. Over the course of a year, he disappeared. All he did was steal some insignificant item.
Rape is far more serious, and the natives are likely to vent anti-U.S. tendencies on a helpless representative who "raped" one of thier fellow persons. Not a fate I would want to have, for the possibly false allegations of a foriegn family who's daughter consented, but the family lost face and pressed charges. Oriental families are big in this respect. "Face" is a major issue, and casual sex is frowned upon in a culture where pre-arranged marraiges still take place. If the bride is "ruined", the family will not get the dowry, and the girl becomes an unmarriable burden to the family.
I'm not saying he's innocent. I am saying investigate carefully. If he did it...
Turn him over.
Deleted
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