50 years of Japan-U.S. Alliance SOFA, the Darkness

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

50 years of Japan-U.S. Alliance SOFA, the Darkness - Part I

Obstacle to resolution of crimes by U.S. personnel

His daughter was soon getting married and he himself was looking forward to seeing a grandchild. He was just enjoying the simple pleasures of life when all of a sudden he became a victim of an accident committed by a U.S. soldier.

On November 7, 2009, 66-year-old Hokama Masakazu of Yomitan Village in Okinawa left his house at around five o’clock in the morning as usual to go walking to stay in good shape.

Hit-and-run

On the walk, Hokama was run down by Clyde Andrew Gunn, assigned to the U.S. Army Special Command Green Berets, in a hit and run. Ten hours later, Hokama was found dead on the scene.

The 27-year-old sergeant took the car he was driving to an auto-repair garage and went to the U.S. Army Torii Station in the village.

Article 17 of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) states that U.S. authorities have the right to detain suspected U.S. personnel until Japanese authorities formally press charges.

Gunn lived outside the base, but he fled to the base after taking the car to the garage in the attempt to destroy evidence of the crime.

It took two months from the date of fatal car accident before Okinawa Police arrested Gunn. During this period, Gunn was refusing to turn himself over to police custody because, he claimed, police questioning in Japan is conducted behind closed doors.

In the meantime, Okinawa Police did nothing to ask the U.S. military to hand him over, provoking a lot of questions among the general public. Lawyer Arakaki Ttsutomu said, “Okinawa Police should have inspected the vehicle involved to collect evidence and should have sought an arrest warrant to negotiate the transfer of the suspect. However, the police didn’t do so because, I think, it tried to keep the general public from seeing the inequality of the SOFA under which the U.S. authorities do not have to hand over crime suspects to Japanese authorities.”

Special privileges of U.S. military

Arakaki stated, “As long as the U.S. military detains the suspect in its compound, it does not have to hand him over to Japan. This is one of the special privileges the U.S. forces have under the SOFA.”

Gunn on February 21, during the first hearing of his trial held at the Naha District Court, admitted that he had caused Hokama’s death. However, he pleaded not guilty, arguing that it did not constitute a criminal case. He shifted the responsibility onto the victim by saying that Hokama should have been more careful.

To Isa Shinbu, Japanese Communist Party member of the Yomitan Village Assembly, the victim’s younger brother said, “I’m angry at the suspect for not admitting his fault.”

“Those privileges were implemented just after the U.S. occupation of Japan ended. It’s hard to claim that Japan-U.S. relations are based on an equal footing because Japan has long maintained this unequal agreement (SOFA). It clearly shows that Japanese governments always stick to the policy of subservience to the United States,” Arakaki criticized.

(To be continued)