Japan criticized for waiving prosecution rights

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Japan criticized for waiving prosecution rights
By David Allen, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, January 1, 2009

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — With more than 99 percent of indictments leading to convictions, Japan has a reputation for being tough on crime. What that figure does not take into account, however, is that prosecutors are hesitant to bring cases to trial unless they can be assured a conviction.

The Ministry of Justice recently released figures for 2007 that showed only 43.6 percent of all criminal cases went to trial. And the figure is even lower — 13.3 percent — for criminal charges against personnel connected to the U.S. military.

The data have prompted the Japan Peace Committee and other anti-military groups to charge that Japan is giving up its sovereignty in most criminal cases involving people covered by the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement.

"Yielding Japan’s jurisdiction is a grave violation of the rights of Japanese citizens," said Jun Chisaka, general secretary of the peace committee. "We fear that such practices will consequently contribute to foster further crimes by servicemembers."

The statistics on SOFA personnel brought to trial were not broken down by prefecture, but military officials on Okinawa say they handle all criminal cases waived by Japanese authorities with the same care as they would crimes allegedly committed on the bases.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=59736