www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240703_17/
Japan reveals three more sexual violence cases involving US military personnel | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News
The local Okinawans are really mad and for good reason. They don’t like the US bases situated there, and to top it off, any criminal soldiers that harm the locals get judged by military law and rarely receive any punishment fitting for the severity of the crime.
This shit has been going on for decades. A five year old in 1955 and A twelve year old in 1995. And a 16 year old just a few days ago.
Okinawans have every reason to want to throw them out.
And that's the shit that gets reported. Talk to people around any american military base (even the ones inside the USA) and they'll tell you horror stories.
You are right because reporting against US military is much harder because Japan's central goverment is trying to cover it up too.
My grandpa left behind a photo album from the Korean where there are pictures of his colleagues groping Korean women's breasts. There was also an art book he got people to draw in which has gone missing.
There's even more than that, there was one in the mid 2010 I was on island for. the tone of the Okinawan people were extremely hostile and we had to get moved from off base housing to on base due to the tension. Not to sure of the logistics behind it I was a teenager then. But contextually the crime there is non-existent and this is to happen is a foreign concept and unbelievable to them as to us crime like this is too desensitized the pain was heard and amplified. I hear these stories and it reminds me of that every time how painful it has to be for them.
I was also there for this and of similar age ( I wonder if we have met) it was crazy though, I remember the protests off of kadena at the time and the anger was like a light switch from what I usually experienced off base.
I was also on kadena, I'll DM you and we can find out lol.
So did you guys meet irl or? Mildly invested in the side story now lmao
I DM'd them my first name, no response yet. They must have hated me lol
I showed up early 2011 and libbo was locked out because of that incident still.
And a 16 year old just a few days ago.
That happened in December of last year
It made to news recently because they covered it up for a long time. That is why they got the date wrong probably.
Also the bases have a record of contaminating the water supply by deposing of chemicals all willy nilly style.
I bet they are happy that the marines are finally leaving Okinawa
Don't know what you're talking about. You are tried under the host nation's courts, and you are specifically briefed that the military isn't coming to save you if you get caught up. If you read the article about the recent one it states that the marine is being tried under Japanese courts. In fact, you will likely get a double Jeopardy of the host nation and military law once you get out. Critique service member behavior all you want, but don't make stuff up to make it sound worse. Perhaps that was the case in the past, but it isn't now. I know for a fact that there are former military members sitting in Korean prisons right now.
They're talking about past crimes not be properly punished
https://apnews.com/united-states-government-151e7d18a5a64d90a219bfa4b567ddd3
Hundreds of records detailing sex-crime investigations involving U.S. military personnel stationed in Japan show most offenders were not incarcerated, suspects received light punishments after being accused of serious violations and victims increasingly were wary of cooperating with investigators.
Still protected by SOFA in Korea, so while you technically are tried by Korean courts and held in Korean jails, different rules apply to you and you get held in a different cell block.
source: I’ve spent time in Seoul Detention Center, but held under SOFA and in block 13.
Damn, wild night?
Tried via absentee being they are likely no longer in Japan anymore which means has no legal binding in the USA.... a performance show pretty much.
What? That's remarkably not true at all. First off they get tried by host nations first and then DOD will come in after and layer on some more penalties. The only ones getting off with light punishments are high ranking officers. And even further those installations then collectively punish everyone there with things like curfews.
I was in the US Marines stationed in Okinawa. A buddy of mine got arrested by Japanese police for walking around intoxicated and carrying a pocket knife. He spent six weeks in Japanese jail. When he got out, he received an NJP from unit command. They restricted him to barracks for three months, finded him 1000 bucks, and busted him down from E3 to E2.
Neither public drinking nor public intoxication are crimes in Japan.
He did something else. They would not have found the pocket knife until arrest, and he didn't get arrested for drinking/being drunk.
On the contrary, they often do get just a slap on the wrist
https://apnews.com/united-states-government-151e7d18a5a64d90a219bfa4b567ddd3
Hundreds of records detailing sex-crime investigations involving U.S. military personnel stationed in Japan show most offenders were not incarcerated, suspects received light punishments after being accused of serious violations and victims increasingly were wary of cooperating with investigators.
That's because if it's a crime involving someone or something from host nation they get tried there first. If the host nation punishes them severely the DOD doesn't really do much because it's not necessary.
Just look at this heinous case. Went to japanese prison and were only given an other than honorable discharge by the military.
Yeah and that's a slap on the wrist. Kidnapping a child, torturing and then raping the child should get a much heavier sentence than 6-7 years.
I mean but it’s the charge the host nation gave them… like it’s not cause of the USA he got that. It’s what Japan gave them lol
They got a slap on the wrist by both parties. 6-7 years was too short but just being discharged was absolutely abhorrent
I get people being mad , but like if I was a local I’d be more mad at my own government personally. Is that what japense citizens normally get? People are acting like it isn’t and I’m not going to do an in deep reading of their legal system. But it’s not the USAs fault that Japan gave them that lol. Which is why I think the anger is a tad misplaced
My main point is not Japan's punishment. I mean the military punishment of just a discharge.
First off, 6-7 years in a Japanese prison as a foreigner (which japan don't really like any foreigners) who raped a child is going to be pretty rough before you get into the notoriously rough Japanese prisons already are.
Also the DOD doesn't have any control over what sentences the Japanese government gives them. Further, if they are imprisoned by the Japanese the DOD doesn't even get a chance to do anything at that point in time as they are in the possession of the Japanese. It's only once they are released do they have a chance to do anything with them. After their sentence is served they are handed back over and they would have to hold another trial. Having another trial 7 years after the fact is never a simple proposition, especially considering witnesses would be foreign nationals who may or may not want to have anything to do with it.
It should be harsher since these soldiers represent the US while stationed in Japan. They should be held to a higher standard. It should be even harsher since they kidnapped and raped a child. 6-7 years in any conditions is absolutely too little. That's of course the fault of the Japanese government
However, giving them OTH discharges with out any court martial is absolutely abhorrent. Sure it could be hard, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be done.
That is false. US military has been terrorising Okinawan people, nature and culture and criminals are generally protected which makes it a systematic problem. Most of criminal US military personel in Japan don't even see the prison and got away with what they did even some rapists which isn't surprising because US is infamous for protecting its criminal military personel. US even has a law to invade Europe to protect its war criminal soldiers.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/09/sexual-assaults-us-military-japan-prison-unlikely
Another example: between 2017 and 2019 there were at least seven other investigations into U.S. military personnel for sexual offenses against Japanese women in Okinawa — and none were made public. Perpetrators had not been punished under Japanese law nor had their cases appeared in the annual reports produced by the Pentagon’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office for the U.S. Congress.
https://theintercept.com/2021/10/03/okinawa-sexual-crimes-us-military/
If I give another recent example which is how US pressured and threatened Japan to protect US military personel who killed two people because of reckless driving. Later US released him when US got him from Japan by threats. There are many incidents like this and anyone who is objective can see that.
Very interesting to point out that all three of these cases only came to light AFTER the Okinawa election that just happened this month, in which the conservative candidate who supports the military presence beat the incumbent who criticizes the presence of the bases. Very interesting timing.
Start putting them in Japanese prisons for decades.
My brother was stationed in Okinawa a few years ago. All he did for 3+ years was get fucking shitface drunk and fight. Just like many others there. Came out with no improvements, still a dumbass moron with no prospects.
Too bad they don’t actively promote University of Maryland — Global Campus as a worthwhile pastime on that station/base.
100% recommend UMGC. Several of my former troops got their degrees there and are doing well in the civilian world because of it.
Okinawa base seems like a good place to push this. Keep the troops out of trouble. Advertise it as a scholastic-type station.
Honestly I'd push this anywhere, but especially desolate assignments where there's nothing to do. Assignments like Minot or Cannon are pure hell for your average 18-25 year old single person. Nothing to do by drink or look for trouble.
And then he comes to America and gets standing ovations at baseball games during the mandatory “Salute Your Heroes” portion.
On behalf of every current and former US military member that has been stationed in Japan or abroad: Fuck these pricks.
They harm women, they create tension with locals, they disrupt the lives of those trying to live respectfully of our host nation.
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3d
They're not sending their best.
Why are they so violent?
female sailors get SA all the time (28%) and it is swept under the rug. It is so fucked up.
Is there any evidence that rates of sexual assault by service members are any different from another group of similiarly situated individuals?
Everything I've seen is it's the same.
It is if you account for the huge population imbalance. It looks way higher because there's way less women in the military (15% AD and 21% Guard) compared to the rest of the working population. Plus corporations and colleges aren't obligated to report incidences or make them public like a government entity is.
Your average corporation or College 100% will sweep shit under the rug if they think they will get away with it Bad press hurts the bottom line. Take reports to the real police, not HR or the Campus "cops."
Corporations and Colleges are still organizations that have some semblance of accountability. Sexual assault among the general population has no institution besides the police to rely on. And the police are pretty good at not giving a flying fuck about sexual assault cases. I would say the amount of SA incidences that are never reported among the general population is vastly higher than anywhere else. Large communities have zero trust in the police whatsoever and if they are the only ones you can turn to, it's probably not getting reported. Domestic SA is probably by far the most common and also likely the least reported. For better and worse reporting SA in the military is often a guilty until proven innocent exercise.
That's also why simply looking at reported rates is disingenuous. In an organization where reporting gets tangible results and keeps victims safe you will get more reporting.
It is. I was recently a sexual assault response coordinator in the military and asked our civilian workers the same question. It's essentially identical to the stats you see in college aged BUT colleges have comparably abysmal programs to support victims. The most is vastly incorporating massive hirings of civilian workers to assist victims, taking punishment seriously now, while also removing punishment from commanders to a more unified authority. It's incredibly promising... But the reddit party line of ignorance doesn't know that (and doesn't care to learn the facts).
The military is a last resort job for a lot of people much like the police force. People who pick last resort jobs aren’t typically morally sound.
Not to say there aren’t respectable people in both lines of work as well.
Jesus that's a rough take. Saying desperate people aren't morally sound is such a piss poor opinion. Lucky you though, for the privilege of being able to have that opinion.
people who pick last resort jobs aren't typically morally sound
You have 0 evidence for this. Just because someone doesn't have a lot of options for whatever the reason is has legitimately nothing to do with that person's morality.
You can CERTAINLY make arguments that, given what the military actually does, it would attract people who are not morally sound. This is totally fair. But saying that people who are picking military as a last resort aren't morally sound is not a valid claim.
This is not accurate. Are you saying poor people are immoral?
No I am not. Are you saying only poor people join these jobs?
The military isn't a job though. Your entire life basically belongs to the military, you don't get privacy to do things like masturbate whenever you want to. It's a very tough and demanding role with limited ability to express or vent your pent up desires.
1.4 million active troops, 9000 sexual assault reports is .6% of all active duty troops. Even if we tripled the number to account for unreported cases, it's still only about 1.5% at most. Considering that these troops generally eat, sleep, and shower with the military 24/7 their entire time in the military, this actually pretty decent.
USPS had about 720 reported sexual assaults, so let's tripe that and compare with the ~517,000 employees in 2022, makes about .4% SA rate. While it's 1/4 of the military's, USPS employees do not eat, sleep, shower, and generally spend most of their days with their coworkers. There are also no regulations on USPS employees on what they do in their personal lives.
I was there in Okinawa in the late 2000’s; there was hostility and there was tension. The US military set up shop during WW2 and never left. Not to mention that good real estate is eaten up by the smattering of bases located on the island. On top of that, you can pay for sex there. Sooooo, if you get caught up in some shit like this, you wanted it like that. I do not blame them for being pissed.
Like most other countries, prostitution is illegal in Japan but not really enforced.
I had some friends that were confined to base the last time Japan started reporting all these sexual assaults of US military personnel and they hated it.
My family was stationed on Kadena from 06-10, and remember being confined to base in 08. Its just sad how often this happens that you have to ask "which time"?
That's fucked up to hear 🥲
Yeah I was there 2013-2016, Japan is such an amazing place to live but the regular military lockdowns and restrictions really suck. I understand why they happen though, all it takes are a couple dumbasses (of which there are many in the military) or psychopaths to fuck it up for everyone. It’s probably a statistical law that out of 10’s of thousands of young men, regardless of setting, there are going to be a few who do some truly evil things.
But outrage is justified, and I think Americans would handle the situation even worse if the same situations occurred with foreign military bases in US soil. And I feel for all the people, Americans and Japanese, who suffer from the actions of a few people who should be locked up for a very long time.
The US would never allow foreign military bases on its soil.
Not in the current state of US-led western hegemony. But if it ever did happen, Americans would react very badly to any crimes committed by foreign troops, which is a natural reaction. So there is no reason to expect any other country to not do the same.
Americans would learn quickly what other countries hosting american military bases now learned: To take it because there is nothing they can do about it.
So what happened in Afghanistan and Niger to buck the trend?
We have a few foreign military installations on US Soil. Here is German one at Washington Dulles: https://www.google.com/maps/@38.9586526,-77.4496661,3a,41.6y,280.81h,91.8t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sXSua2IpAkS3zaLru_750nw!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DXSua2IpAkS3zaLru_750nw%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D280.8138099606738%26pitch%3D-1.7987505197665996%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205410&entry=ttu
US does not forbid foreign military bases on US soil, it's that other countries don't see the need. Allied Nations fly over for training and there is many NATO Country foreign officers/enlisted stationed at CONUS US Military bases. They tend to be cream of the crop so we almost never have issues with them.
You keep military base so you have combat ready troops/equipment forward deployed in case "unfriendly" countries threaten our allies. Since United States doesn't have "unfriendly" countries nearby and I think we could take Canada/Mexico on our own if they decided to invade, our allies don't see a reason to have bases on US soil.
Unfortunately you posted this a bit late so I don't think many people will see this, but now I know.
Theres no need for it.
...and they hated it.
They hated the sexual assault conducted by military personnel, or they hated being inconvenienced because their coworkers are rapists?
It can be both.
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3d
Again mate, you're saying both but in both instances you are complaining that they inconvenienced you instead of, you know, the rape.
They’re an embarrassment to society more importantly
They hated being punished for somebody else's crimes?
Somebody get the socks filled with soap.
Not to be an asshole... but if they were better at policing their own they wouldn't have this problem.
I mean...there comes a point where what are you going to police? These men are adults who should understand consent. Being told "hey dont rape" isnt really going to prevent those people from doing what they are inclined to do anyways. Obviously, the perpetrators should be dishonorably discharged and charged for their crimes, and if thats not happening a discussion can be had on that, but what is an average member of the army (who understands consent and doesnt run around raping people) supposed to do?
You are nutty, how does someone police someone they don't know? You are talking as if every military person knows each other and can personally reprimand every offender.
Not to be an asshole but how am I suppose to police someone i dont know and may have never even seen before. US forces Japan is roughly 50k people, the odds that there are a few scumbags in that amount of people is fairly high
The US military is so idolized even by those who "hate" it that they literally expect divine powers from US servicemembers.
Your town doesn't have rape, then, I assume, or are you also bad at "policing your own"?
This military base is about the size of a suburb.
Sex abuse is inexcusable, and Japan and the military are well within their rights to inconvenience everyone to prevent it - but it feels like you're holding these folks to a different standard than you'd ever hold anyone else to if you think every soldier inconvenienced by not being able to leave base is somehow a guilty party and deserving of punishment.
you’re holding these folks to a different standard than you’d ever hold anyone else to
well yes they’re the fucking US military they should be held to a different standard than regular civilians lmao
To add, yes, they should be held to a higher standard, at the same time it should be understandable why they would be pissed to be punished for something most of them didn't do.
Omnipresence? Omniscience? I understand that the US and it's military are exceptional in every way and inspires awe in people, but perhaps you could explain how some random PFC is supposed to police the actions of someone they don't even know exist in some other base/unit/etc possibly on the other side of the globe? And why they should be held responsible for the actions of such other people? Are you personally responsible for every crime in your country? Shouldn't you be held responsible for these crimes? You have as much power to stop things you aren't present for or know is happening, but you simply refuse. Curious.
I understand expecting truly incredible and wondrous things from them, but omniscience and omnipresence seems just slightly too much.
You know very little about the military (ANY country's military) if you believe this.
They hated because they are selfish and tone deaf. Okinawan people's safety more important than US military's joy. US military has been terrorising Okinawas people, nature and culture and criminals are generally protected which makes it a systematic problem. Most of criminal US military personel in Japan don't even see the prison and got away with what they did even some rapists which isn't surprising because US is infamous for protecting its criminal military personel. US even has a law to invade Europe to protect its war criminal soldiers.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/09/sexual-assaults-us-military-japan-prison-unlikely
Another example: between 2017 and 2019 there were at least seven other investigations into U.S. military personnel for sexual offenses against Japanese women in Okinawa — and none were made public. Perpetrators had not been punished under Japanese law nor had their cases appeared in the annual reports produced by the Pentagon’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office for the U.S. Congress.
https://theintercept.com/2021/10/03/okinawa-sexual-crimes-us-military/
If I give another recent example which is how US pressured and threatened Japan to protect US military personel who killed two people because of reckless driving. Later US released him when US got him from Japan by threats. There are many incidents like this and anyone who is objective can see that.
Part of the issue is the US military keeps soldiers and commanders rotating fairly regularly to keep soldiers etc from bring more loyal to their commander than to the US. So even if everyone learned from 2017, almost no one is on base from that time.
I can't help but think that maybe this should be slowed down for overseas postings so that there's time for these lessons to be passed down.
Those poor friends
I was stationed in Okinawa when the 1995 rape of a 12-year old Okinawan girl by three African American U.S. service members took place. I loved Oki. I still love Oki. I will always love Oki and its people. Unfortunately, that event not only permanently damaged the U.S.-Okinawa relationship, it altered my outlook on troops being stationed there at all.
I may be in the minority on this, but I truly believe the U.S. should relocate all of the Japan-based troops and assets to Guam and back to CONUS. Japan should ramp up their “defense forces” and take responsibility for their own national defense. Need help? Cool, let us know and we’ll deploy what is required to assist from Guam, which is actually fairly central to everything in the Asian-Pacific theater. That, and it’s not like the U.S. can’t be somewhere with 24 hours if required to be.
But what if they are so heavy that Guam flips over in the ocean? Guam is pretty small.
IDK, we could join China in making baseless claims to artificial islands? We have the legal right to claim them if they have bird shit
😂😂😂😂 Shit’d work out. 😛
Well. We don't put them all at one end. We would spread the mass over the entire island to maintain balance.
what the fuck are yall doing over there. Jesus.
My best friend was assaulted there and when she sat down to talk to his CO they totally downplayed the assault even saying that the perpetrator is married and the profound effects her testimony would have on his military career. The guy was let off easy while my friend who was r* word was left sui* word. Horrible that this is the culture and how they get away with it while blaming the innocent for their despicable actions.
You're not gonna get censored for saying raped or suicidal here
The problem will only get worse because the U.S. military has lowered standards to meet recruitment targets. Dropping a bunch of dumb undisciplined dudes on a high-trust society is a recipe for disaster.
Hot take that will piss off the military bros. Any time an incident like this happens all of them should be confined to base for a year.
You’d all be policing your own a lot more if the threat affected you all a fraction as it does locals who have to put up with your shit.
"They're not sending their best"
The best dont join the military
Man, these fucks mess it up for the rest of the military. When I was in the army and stationed in Korea years ago, some dude snuck into a high school girl's dormitory and fucking tortured one girl. Like he burned her nipples and cut her and shit. I think he was sent to a Korean prison.
Until those morons can get themselves under control they should not be allowed to interact with the locals at all. I said this before in another thread about this, but they are representing us to one of our closest allies and its horrifying what they're doing to them. They absolutely deserve to have the full extent of the local justice system levied against them, and when they're released face a court martial with a manditory dishonorable discharge.
Not a good look for the LDP as we approach the Tokyo election in 4 days and Kishida approval rating dips below 20%.
Okinawan's have every right top be pissed. Fuck U.S imperialism
Get them out. Fuck imperialism. Us military is full of pigs
Is this any different from any other times this has happened?
$5 they also watch a ton of anime.
Maybe America and Russia aren’t so different after all…
(Plz downvote me cause I really want that opinion to be incorrect.)
The U.S sends they’re worse. They send rapists
Not surprising. It’s not like we’re sending our best into the military these days, since the best know what kind of medical care and treatment they’re going to get during and after their service. Furthermore, it’s not a secret that a lot of enlisted jobs have no real world analogs and that the experience often isn’t respected in today’s job market. In other words, a veteran who served five years could potentially be worse off than a former classmate that went straight into the workforce after high school graduation.
And even amongst the middle and lower middle class, people are recognizing this - especially those of us with family who served in and were fucked up by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. All that’s left feeding into the machine is the working class, where morals and ethics usually take a backseat to just trying to survive, with some food on the table and a roof over your head.
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Start putting them in a military prison for decades instead of slaps on the wrist.