TOKYO, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Japan and the United States will amend an archaic pact that governs the way U.S. military personnel and base-linked civilian
workers are dealt with legally following rising instances of crimes committed by
U.S. service people in Japan, local media quoted government sources as saying
Monday.
According to Kyodo News, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy and Lt. Gen.
John Dolan, commander of the U.S. military in Japan, will announce the plans to
revise elements of the the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) at a
press conference on Tuesday.
The move comes as anti-U.S. sentiment on Okinawa Island, which hosts the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan, has been rising exponentially in the wake
of a series of crimes involving U.S. military-linked personnel including murder,
rape, assault and a number of drunk driving cases.
Calls have been made from both the prefectural and central government for SOFA to be revised, particularly from the former, as the pact is
overly-protective of American citizens and contains loopholes whereby U.S.
offenders can dodge prosecution in Japan as the bases are under U.S. legal
jurisdiction.
"Japan and the United States are currently reviewing the treatment of Americans subject to the agreement and we are making final arrangements to
swiftly compile effective measures," Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi
Hagiuda was quoted as telling a press conference.
The current pact does not allow Japanese prosecutors to indict U.S. military-linked personnel if crimes were committed when the offender was on
official duty and investigators are not granted access to U.S. military bases
and facilities in Japan in the pursuit of offenders, meaning the bases
effectively offer criminals immunity from Japanese law.
Also at odds under the current agreement is the issue of the definition of a "civilian component", which refers to American civilians working for the
military, but does not fully explain the details of their employment conditions
or arrangements.
Under the new review of SOFA, the ambiguous definition and scope of "civilian component" will be clarified, local media quoted government sources as saying
Monday.
The inadequacy of SOFA, first inked in 1960, has been under the spotlight following Kenneth Franklin Shinzato murdering a 20-year-old local woman in April
while he was working as a civilian at the U.S. Air Force's Kadena Air Base in
Okinawa.
The murder and rape, for which Shinzato was indicted last week, sparked mass protests and outrage from both Okinawa's local citizens and officials and drew
widespread condemnation from the mainland too.
It also amplified the islanders' calls for their base hosting burdens to be eradicated and the U.S. bases kicked off the tiny island, which accounts for
less than 1 percent of Japan's total land mass.
The latest move to amend the pact follows yet another drink driving arrest occurring in Okinawa on Monday involving a U.S. military service person.
Okinawa prefectural police on Monday arrested a serviceman from Kadena Air Base on charges of drunk driving in Naha City.
Christopher Aaron Platte, a 27-year-old staff sergeant, was arrested after driving on a road in the town of Chatan. The suspect failed an on-the-spot
breathalyzer test that was administered after he was pulled over for weaving
along the road.
Monday's arrest follows a similar incident on June 26 when police arrested Francis Shayquan, 24, a shop clerk at Kadena Air Base, on suspicion of driving
under the influence of alcohol. Also in June, four American civilians at the
Kadena base were arrested on drugs charges.
Prior to that, on June 4, Aimee Mejia, 21, a U.S. Navy worker, was charged with drunk driving after crashing her car head-on into two other cars and
injuring two people as she sped the wrong way along a highway on the island.
Other incidents that have incensed both officials and citizens of Okinawa recently include the rape of a local women by a U.S. serviceman in a hotel in
Naha, the capital of Okinawa, and a brutal assault on a female Japanese student
by a serviceman on a civilian flight from the U.S. to Japan.
There have been lots of adverts on Tv and in the Newspapers recently by various distinct firms offering PPI Claims. These corporations are providing to
claim back a form of insurance that you have paid on a loan Wholesale Authentic Jerseys , mortgage or credit card that you have been mis sold – but how easy is it?
The truth is that yes Wholesale Jerseys Cheap , in actual reality if you have taken out a loan within the last 6 years you can just about definately claim back your PPI Wholesale Jerseys From China , in truth in some circumstances PPI claims can even go back 10 years.
Payment protection insurance (PPI) is added to loans to help safeguard you against becoming unable to make the payments. It was all sorts of banks and
lenders that added this insurance onto loans and it was actually added onto some
mortgages.
Why can you claim it back? There are various reasons that PPI claims are productive Wholesale Jerseys China , one of the greatest causes of a mis sold payment protection insurance claim is the truth that countless loans had these policies included
without asking the customer properly Wholesale Jerseys , adding on thousands to the cost of the loan!
There are companies that specialise in helping persons with PPI claims. These providers have the suitable forms and letters to send to banks and lenders in
order to make the method as speedy as feasible. This income is rightfully yours
so you will need to look at generating a claim as soon as achievable Wholesale NCAA College Jerseys , in some situations you can even claim back the interest you have lost out on with this capital becoming in their pocket and not yours.
Of course there is absolutely nothing stopping you from making a PPI claim yourself. It is critical to be . Cheap Nike Vapormax Black Cheap Nike Vapormax 2018 Cheap Old Skool Flames Cheap Vans Old Skool Cheap Old Skool Shoes Cheap Vans Old Skool Cheap Vans Old Skool Cheap Vans Old Skool White Wholesale Soccer Jerseys China Wholesale Adidas NHL Jerseys
