NAHA, Japan: Lawmakers in Okinawa adopted a resolution on Friday calling for revisions to a pact seen as giving the US military preferential treatment in Japan, following a murder allegedly committed by an American Marine. The killing of a Japanese woman has caused outrage in Japan, where crimes involving US forces have long fueled criticism of the troops’ presence.
The resolution passed 45 to 2 and will soon be submitted to the US embassy, local media said. The prefectural assembly also adopted an opinion statement to the same effect, which will be sent to the Japanese government.
The assembly called for a fundamental revision of the 1960 Japan Status of Forces Agreement, including its provisions on handing over suspects. Critics often say the pact makes US military bases virtually extraterritorial and immune to Japan’s domestic laws.
“We are seeing the limitations of the US military’s training program and ability to maintain discipline, and have to say that it is not functioning as an organization,” said Ryotaro Odo, who heads the assembly’s special committee on US military bases.
Police said on Sunday that a US Marine stationed on Okinawa had been arrested on suspicion of killing a 39-year-old woman at a hotel in Naha and stealing her wallet. Local media reported that the woman was choked to death and that the Marine denies the allegations.
The assembly passed a similar resolution and opinion statement in 2024, following a series of sexual assaults by US servicemen in Okinawa, according to Kyodo News. The United States has around 54,000 military personnel stationed in Japan, most of them on Okinawa. Crimes by US military personnel, including rapes, assaults, hit-and-runs and drunk-driving accidents, have long triggered protests on the southern island. — AFP