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Japan, U.S. agree to narrow scope of workers protected by SOFA

Xinhua, July 5, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Japanese and U.S. governments announced Tuesday that they have agreed to narrow the scope of U.S. military base workers protected by the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), a bilateral pact that gives U.S. servicemen and civilian workers in Japan privileged legal status.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy and Lt. Gen. John Dolan, commander of U.S. Forces in Japan, made the announcement Tuesday in Tokyo.

Under the 1960 pact, the U.S. justice system, instead of Japanese courts, has the primary right of jurisdiction over crimes committed by U.S base service members and their "civil component" if the accused was "acting on official duty," which is often criticized as overprotective of U.S. Base workers and giving them immunity from Japanese law.

Another controversial issue about the pact is the term "civil component," which was formerly defined as "civilian persons of U.S. nationality who are in the employ of, serving with, or accompanying the U.S armed forces in Japan," but did not specify the employment conditions or arrangements.

The revised version of the pact narrowed the scope of "civil component" by restricting it to four categories: civilians paid by the U.S. government to work for the U.S. military in Japan; civilians working on ships and aircraft operated by the military; civilians working for the U.S. government and staying in Japan for official purposes related to the military and technical advisers and consultants staying in Japan at the invitation of the military.

U.S. civilians who are not in the above four categories are thus excluded from protection of the pact, including Kenneth Franklin Shinzato, a former Marine who worked at an Internet-related company in Kadena Air Base and was arrested for allegedly murdering and abandoning the body of a 20-year-old local woman in April.

The revision came as anti-U.S. sentiment in Okinawa, which hosts some 75 percent of U.S. bases in Japan, has been on the rise following a series of crimes committed by U.S. military-linked personnel including murder, rape, assault and a series of drunk driving cases.

Rallies have been held across the island prefecture, protesting against the crimes and demanding overhaul of the SOFA as well as removal of the U.S. military bases. Endit